Focusing leadership through force field analysis: new variations on a venerable planning tool

This forwards a new version of a tool long used in planned change and organizational development efforts – force field analysis. Existing applications of this technique are critiqued in light of cognitive heuristics known to erode judgment and analytical performance in plan development. A cognitive prompting template is combined with the existing the force field analysis technique to mitigate these problems. As such, the revised technique represents a significant improvement over the traditional application of the force field tool as used by the OD practitioner. Following an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of the revised technique, a case example is offered to illustrate the technique as it was used in a real organization. Finally, practical facilitation guidelines are offered to help leaders and planners conduct force field analysis sessions in multi‐stakeholder change efforts.