Abstract
Few social scientists can have received the level of praise and admiration that has been heaped upon Kurt Lewin. Edward Tolman, one of the most distinguished psychologists of his day, put his contribution to psychology on a par with that of Sigmund Freud (Tolman E, Psychol Rev 55:1–4, 1948). The distinguished scholar Edgar Schein called Lewin “the intellectual father of contemporary theories of applied behavioural science” (1988, p. 239). Recently, the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman declared that “We are all Lewinians now” (2013, p. viii). Tributes such as these, from such distinguished figures, show that Lewin made an outstanding and enduring contribution to the field of psychology. He is now best known for his work in the field of organizational change, but, as this chapter will show, he had a wider agenda aimed at resolving social conflict. Among the main factors that influenced and motivated his work were his application of Gestalt psychology to child psychology and the impact of the anti-Semitism he encountered growing up and working in Germany. On moving to the USA, he gravitated from studying child psychology in the laboratory to bringing about social and organizational change in the real world. His key contributions were the creation of planned change, his work on participative management, and countering religious and racial discrimination. He was also responsible for establishing important institutions, such as the National Training Laboratories and the Research Center for Group Dynamics. Lewin’s lasting legacy consists not just of his groundbreaking scholarly work but also of his example as a “practical theorist” who wanted to make the world a better place.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Burke, W. W. (2006). Where did OD come from? In J. V. Gallos (Ed.), Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader (pp. 13–38). Jossey-Bass.
Burnes, B. (1992). Managing change. Pitman.
Burnes, B. (2004). Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: A re-appraisal. Journal of Management Studies, 41(6), 977–1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00463.x.
Burnes, B. (2007). Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies: The foundations of OD. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43(2), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886306297004.
Burnes, B., & Cooke, B. (2012). The past, present and future of organization development: Taking the long view. Human Relations, 65(11), 1395–1429. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726712450058.
Burnes, B., & Cooke, B. (2013). Kurt Lewin’s field theory: A review and re-evaluation. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(4), 408–425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00348.x.
Burnes, B., Hughes, M., & By, R. T. (2018). Reimagining organisational change leadership. Leadership, 14(2), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715016662188.
Carpenter, C. J. (2013). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the ‘but you are free’ compliance-gaining technique. Communication Studies, 64(1), 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2012.727941.
Coch, L., & French, J. R. P., Jr. (1948). Overcoming resistance to change. Human Relations, 1(4), 512–532.
Cooke, B. (1999). Writing the left out of management theory: The historiography of the management of change. Organization, 6(1), 81–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674800100408.
Danziger, K. (2000). Making social psychology experimental: A conceptual history, 1920–1970. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 36(4), 329–347. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6696(200023)36:4%3C329::AID-JHBS3%3E3.0.CO;2-5.
Dent, E. B. (2002). The messy history of OB&D: How three strands came to be seen as one rope. Management Decision, 40(3), 266–280. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740210420228.
Diamond, G. A. (1992). Field theory and rational choice: A Lewinian approach to modelling motivation. Journal of Social Issues, 48(2), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb00885.x.
French, J. R. P., Jr. (1979). Obituary: Alfred J. Marrow (1905–1978). American Psychologist, 34(11), 1109–1110. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0078257.
French, W. L. (1982). The emergence and early history of organization development: With reference to influences on and interaction among some of the key actors. Group & Organization Studies, 7(3), 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/105960118200700302.
Gulati, R. (2007). Tent poles, tribalism, and boundary spanning: The rigor–relevance debate in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 50(4), 775–782. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.26279170.
Kahneman, D. (2013). Foreword. In E. Shafir (Ed.), The behavioral foundations of public policy (pp. vii–vix). Princeton University Press.
Kanter, R. M., Stein, B. A., & Jick, T. D. (1992). The challenge of organizational change. Free Press.
Köhler, W. (1967). Gestalt psychology. Psychological Research, 31(1), XVIII–XVXXX. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422382.
Lewin, G. W. (1948). Preface. In G. W. Lewin (Ed.), Resolving social conflict (pp. xv–xviii). Harper & Row.
Lewin, K. (1941). Regression, retrogression, and development. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin (pp. 87–129). Social Science Paperbacks.
Lewin, K. (1942). Field theory and learning. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin (pp. 60–86). Social Science Paperbacks.
Lewin, K. (1943/1944). Problems of research in social psychology. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Field theory in social science (pp. 155–169). Social Science Paperbacks.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. In G. W. Lewin (Ed.), Resolving social conflict (pp. 201–230). Harper & Row.
Lewin, K. (1949). Cassirer’s philosophy of science and the social sciences. In M. Gold (Ed.), The complete social scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader (pp. 23–36). American Psychological Association.
Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created ‘social climates’. Journal of Social Psychology, 10(2), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366.
Lindzey, G. (1952). Review of Lewin’s field theory in social science. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 47(1), 132–133. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0052870.
Lippitt, R. (1949). Training in community relations. Harper and Bros.
Marrow, A. J. (1967). Events leading to the establishment of the National Training Laboratories. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 3(2), 144–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/002188636700300204.
Marrow, A. J. (1969). The practical theorist: The life and work of Kurt Lewin. Teachers College Press.
Marrow, A. J. (1972). The effects of participation on performance. In A. J. Marrow (Ed.), The failure of success (pp. 90–102). Amacom.
Mirvis, P. H. (2006). Revolutions in OD: The new and the new, new things. In J. V. Gallos (Ed.), Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader (pp. 39–88). Jossey-Bass.
Olson-Buchanan, J., Bryan, L. K., & Thompson, L. F. (Eds.). (2013). Using industrial and organizational psychology for the greater good. Routledge.
Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients’ reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(4), 461–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310396550.
Schein, E. H. (1988). Organizational psychology (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall.
Tolman, E. (1948). Kurt Lewin (1890–1947). Psychological Review, 55(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1948.tb01793.x.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211(4481), 453–458. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7455683.
Further Reading
Burnes, B. (2004). Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: A re-appraisal. Journal of Management Studies, 41(6), 977–1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00463.x.
Burnes, B. (2007). Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies: The foundations of OD. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43(2), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886306297004.
Burnes, B. (2009). Reflections: Ethics and organisational change – Time for a return to Lewinian values. Journal of Change Management, 9(4), 359–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697010903360558.
Burnes, B. (2020). The origins of Lewin’s three step model of change. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(1), 32–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886319892685.
Cartwright, D. (Ed.). (1952). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin. Social Science Paperbacks.
Gold, M. (Ed.). (1999). The complete social scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader. American Psychological Association.
Lewin, G. W. (Ed.). (1948). Resolving social conflict: Selected papers on group dynamics by Kurt Lewin. Harper & Row.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1946.tb02295.x.
Lewin, K. (1947a). Frontiers in group dynamics. Human Relations, 1(1), 5–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100103.
Lewin, K. (1947b). Frontiers in group dynamics II. Human Relations, 1(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100201.
Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created ‘social climates’. Journal of Social Psychology, 10(2), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366.
Marrow, A. J. (1969). The practical theorist: The life and work of Kurt Lewin. Teachers College Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Burnes, B. (2021). Lewin, Kurt (1890–1947): The Practical Theorist. In: Szabla, D.B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38324-4_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38324-4_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38323-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38324-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences