Kurt Lewin: Misapplied Organisational Genius by Dr Richard Claydon.

If there was a case to be made for the greatest organisational thinker of all time, Kurt Lewin would be near or at the top of the list. He is the father of group dynamics. He was the foundational thinker for organisational climate, leadership styles, change (step-based and sense-made) and the DEI movement. His students became foundational thinkers in cognitive dissonance, evolutionary psychology and conflict resolution.

Despite this, he never fully belonged. A Polish-German Jew, who escaped Nazi Germany to the US before the WWII, Lewin was never granted membership of the American Psychological Association. His work was seen as too applied and practical, opposed to the statistical purity of mainstream psychology. Consequently, much of his thinking has been ignored or misapplied by I/O Psyche, to the detriment of all. Given the oft-reported organisational conditions of antagonism and apathy, it is perhaps the opportune time to revisit him to see if his work can provide insights beyond the norm.

In this DD, we will look into three of his major contributions to organisational thinking.

1. B=f(P, E): Behaviour is a function of the person and the environment – the model underpinning all of Lewin’s work, foundational to group dynamics and sense-making
2. Leadership Styles: the impact autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styes have on different people in different environments
3. Change: why and how Lewin’s change as three steps became the foundational model of change, why it is a terrible misreading of his ideas, and what he really thought about change

I am an unabashed fan. I hope that at the end of this DD, you will be too.

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Dr Richard Claydon is the co-founder of EQ Lab, and the designer of the Future of Leadership module at Macquarie Business School’s Global MBA Program (ranked #6 globally by CEO Magazine).

He was awarded the highest achievable marks for a Ph.D in behavioural science. A Harvard Top-200 Management expert and business columnists for the Guardian newspaper have described this research as “a touchstone for the future work in management and organisation”, “outstanding in daring imagination” and “at the forefront of modern discussion and debate.”

Richard is a tier one tennis player, have coached tennis professionally, and also designed the tactics creator for the multi award-winning and world-leading management simulation, Football Manager.