Western versus eastern
Lewin (1951) represented these tensions as forces on one side attempting to maintain stability and forces on the other side trying to change. A key to implementing change under the Lewinian model is strengthening the forces for change and weakening the forces for stability. Lewin’s rich duality has degraded into the simplistic unfreeze>move>refreeze steps for driving organizational change that requires introducing conflict to force change from the status quo to the desired state, replacing old with new for a better future. Herein lays a criticism of OD practice.
With theoretical foundations based on humanistic, democratic values that emphasize individual and organizational growth through collaboration (Marshak, 1993; Robbins & Judge, 2007), Lewinian OD practices do not necessarily work in non-western cultures (Marshak, 1993). Robert Marshak emphasizes this point by labeling American OD practices as biased[i]. He highlights the differences between Lewin’s three-stage model of change that serves as the core of western OD practice and the Confusion concept of Yin Yang that serves as a foundation of eastern cultural philosophy. Yin-Yang also provides a model for understanding how considering bipolar positions can allow OD practitioners to identify essential elements of and tensions between each (Livne-Tarandach & Bartunek, 2009; Marshak, 1993).
Yin Yang is not a change model but a foundation philosophy of East Asian cultures, which proposes that all existence and phenomena result from opposing forces balancing to achieve harmony. Yin-Yang represents duality as opposing forces in a cyclical balance around harmony (Marshak, 1993; Nuyen, 2001). Change happens through the continuous cycle of Yin-Yang and the Five Forces, as follows: Wood (birth), Fire (growth), Earth (maturity), decline (Metal), death (Water), and repeat. This universal principle explains all phenomena and through which all things are related to and balanced against one another. For example, this philosophy holds the stars can determine government policy and predict the future. The cyclical nature of Yin-Yang means that all things eventually recycle into their opposites, all phenomena contain the seeds of their opposite, no phenomena are void of their opposite. All things are related (Marshak, 1993).
Lewin’s force field model and Yin-Yang help explain the schemata through which cultures perceive reality, thereby suggesting practices for effective intervention in respective cultures. Marshak (1993) compares five assumptions of each model, proposing implications for each.
- Linear progression versus cyclical process. Lewin’s model suggests that change is a linear process that strives for a better future; moving backward means failure. In contrast, the Confusion model assumes that change is a cyclical process that revolves around harmony. No stage is better than the next, but they are related and necessary to maintain an eternal cycle. The implication here is that a linear perspective considers any backward movement inappropriate, while the cyclical view sees circles as normal and necessary.
- Destination versus journey. The Lewin perspective assumes that success means achieving a goal or desired state, while the Confusion perspective assumes that change is a journey. What matters is following the Way. The implication is that destination orientation requires establishing end states, while the journey orientation strives for continuous improvement following the Way. All things follow the Way, and all things are related.
[continued?][ii]