Instructional design/Force field analysis/How FFA is presented in a figure?

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Driving Force VS. Restraining Force
As you have seen in the Harry Potter video, there were two different forces helping and hindering Harry at the same time. Here lists these “forces” shown in the video. Could you identify which ones helped Harry and which ones hindered Harry?

{Which forces helped Harry to escape Voldemort and which ones hindered him? +- Harry’s spell +- Harry’s willingness to defeat -+ Voldemort’s spell -+ Too weak magic power +- Support from family and friends -+ Voldemort’s followers -+ Unfamiliar environment in a graveyard
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 * Helped | Hindered

From the forces you have identified, we can say: Those forces helping Harry escape Voldemort can be viewed as driving forces which led him to achieve his goal. On the other hand, those forces hindering Harry can be viewed as restraining forces.

The same concept can be applied to force field analysis which has two parts - driving force and restraining force.
 * Driving force: the force favoring the proposed change or keeping it going
 * Restraining force: the force resisting change or keeping the status quo

How is FFA Presented?
This graphic is one of the representations of force field analysis. Let’s relate the graphic to the Harry Potter video. The other quality the diagram indicates is the strength of each force. If we see this figure from the viewpoint of organization change, according to Lewin’s point, organizations are systems in which the current situation is not static but dynamic with forces working in opposite directions. There are always both driving forces that push for change and restraining forces that act against change in any situation. When one does an analysis, these two forces are shown in balance, like Harry and Voldemort, in a visual depiction that looks above.
 * Harry is currently at ‘a’ - captured by Voldemort. He wants to move to the situation of ‘b’ - escaped from Voldemort
 * The arrows pointing right represent driving forces.
 * The arrows pointing left represent restraining forces.
 * Longer arrow = greater strength to drive or restrain change
 * Shorter arrow = lower strength to drive or restrain change

Questions
{What is the force that tends to initiate change or keep it going? + Driving force - Restraining force
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 * Yes, you got it!
 * Restraining forces act to restrain or decrease the driving forces.

{What does the length of the arrow represent in a force field analysis graphic? - The different forces + The strength of the force
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 * No, it is that the opposite directions tell us what driving forces and restraining forces are.
 * Yes, you got it!

{What is not an element in a force field analysis graphic? - Arrows with different directions + Recommendations for how to make change successfully - Current status - Desired status
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 * Arrows are necessary components which tell us different forces.
 * Recommendations are important in force field analysis, but they come after the driving forces and restraining forces are identified. As a result, they are not shown in a force field analysis graphic.
 * Current status is a necessary component which tells us where we are now.
 * Desired status is a necessary component representing the optimal situation we want to be.

Now you know what driving forces and restraining forces are and how they are presented in a graphic. Before moving forward, let’s review a case study for practice and see how force field analysis is applied in a bicycle manufacturer.

Click the Next button to practice and review the case.