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9–Force Field Analysis – Business Meditation 5
32 Plays3 months ago
In this fifth business meditation of the Unfolding Thought series, Eric Pratum introduces Force Field Analysis, a practical tool for identifying and managing the forces driving or restraining progress toward your goals.
Through this guided exercise, you’ll learn how to identify the positive forces pushing you toward success and the negative forces holding you back. By amplifying the driving forces and reducing the restraining ones, you can focus your energy where it matters most and make meaningful progress.
Whether you’re tackling a work project, personal challenge, or strategic decision, this episode will help you unlock new insights and create balanced strategies to move forward.
Mentioned in the Episode:
- How Force Field Analysis helps clarify the dynamics of a situation.
- Identifying and strengthening the driving forces that support your goals.
- Addressing and reducing the restraining forces holding you back.
Links:
Start at the beginning of the series:
- On the website: https://unfoldingthought.com/unfolding-thought/
- YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-WyDzPVJzUqWSGGIM0lSxqk4T-TBmsrQ
- Or by searching for Episode 4, titled Unfolding Thought, in your podcast platform of choice.
Visit the Unfolding Thought website: https://unfoldingthought.com/
Join the Conversation:
Have thoughts or questions about this episode? Reach out to Eric at eric@inboundandagile.com or connect on social media.
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Transcript
Introduction and Series Overview
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Unfolding Thought. I'm Erik Prudin. If this is your first time listening to one of these business meditations, I encourage you to go back to the very first episode of this series. There, I explain the purpose and structure of these episodes and how you can get the most out of them. Look up episode four of the Unfolding Thought podcast titled Unfolding Thought in your podcast player, or check the link in the show notes. Thank you for joining me.
Introduction to Force Field Analysis
00:00:36
Speaker
Today, I'm going to guide you through an exercise called force field analysis. This is a powerful tool for identifying the forces working for and against your goals. So you can focus on amplifying the positive forces and reducing the negative ones.
00:00:56
Speaker
Force field analysis is often used in decision making, planning, and problem solving. It helps clarify the dynamics of a situation and makes it easier to see where to focus your energy to create progress.
Identifying Goals and Forces
00:01:14
Speaker
For this session, I'll act as your guide, asking you questions to help you identify the forces at play in your current situation.
00:01:24
Speaker
As we go, I'll pause to give you time to reflect on your answers. For this particular exercise, I recommend that you be ready to write some things down. This helps to concretize what can often remain vague responses if they stay in our heads.
00:01:43
Speaker
If you're not in a place to write things down, simply do your best to get them out of your head by, for example, speaking them aloud, and then maybe even visualizing what I mentioned. If I move too quickly during this session, just pause the recording when you need more time. Let's begin.
00:02:07
Speaker
First, think of a specific goal or challenge you're working on. It might be something like launching a new project, improving a relationship, or overcoming a barrier in your work. Take a moment to get clear about what that goal or challenge is and be as specific as possible.
Driving Forces: Skills and Resources
00:02:51
Speaker
Next, let's identify the forces that are driving you towards success. These are the positive factors so that are helping you move forward. They might include your skills, resources, support from others, or opportunities in your environment. For example, maybe you've just acquired a new set of valuable skills.
00:03:16
Speaker
Or perhaps you've gotten your savings to such a point that making a particular investment is much less of a burden than it might have been before. What are the forces driving progress toward your goal?
00:03:51
Speaker
As you do this, either write down or imagine creating either a list or a mind map of all of the factors driving you towards success, contributing to you achieving that goal.
Restraining Forces: Obstacles and Challenges
00:04:28
Speaker
Now, let's identify the forces that are holding you back or working against you. These are the obstacles, challenges, or negative factors that are slowing your progress. They might include a lack of resources, resistance from others, competing priorities, or internal doubts.
00:04:55
Speaker
These could be internal factors such as a lack of confidence or external factors such as people that are not supporting you or challenges you face in the marketplace. What are the forces restraining progress toward your goal?
00:05:28
Speaker
Again, either make an actual list or mind map, or at least imagine doing so. Getting a visual of these forces can give you an appreciation for what you face.
Force Evaluation and Visualization
00:06:01
Speaker
Take a moment to reflect on the forces you've identified. Picture them as two opposing sides, the driving forces pushing you toward your goal and the restraining forces pulling you away from it. Now ask yourself, which of these forces is stronger right now? Are the driving forces stronger?
00:06:28
Speaker
or are the restraining forces overwhelming them? If you've been writing these things down, maybe underline or circle the strongest forces most heavily so that you get a visual indication of where more pressure is coming from.
Amplifying Positive Forces
00:07:07
Speaker
Let's focus on strengthening the driving forces first. What could you do to amplify the positive factors helping you? For example, could you get additional resources, build stronger relationships, or take advantage of an opportunity you've been overlooking?
00:07:30
Speaker
Could you reach out on LinkedIn to a connection of a connection that has some valuable industry knowledge so that they can give you advice? Could you get over some hesitancy about accepting an offer for help? Whatever it is, what can you do to strengthen the driving forces, the forces that will help you on your way towards success?
Weakening Negative Forces
00:08:19
Speaker
Now, let's focus on reducing the restraining forces. What could you do to weaken the negative factors holding you back? For example, could you remove an obstacle, address resistance from others, or change something within yourself?
00:08:41
Speaker
Let's imagine that your goal is to get in shape and that one of the best ways to get there is to get up early to lift weights or get on the treadmill.
00:08:53
Speaker
In this case, a restraining factor might be that it's hard to get up an hour earlier in the morning. What could you do to weaken that factor? Could you go to sleep a little earlier, limit your alcohol consumption, maybe buy a daylight alarm?
00:09:15
Speaker
What can you do to reduce the restraining forces, the forces holding you back or slowing you down on your path toward your goal?
Balancing and Commitment to Goals
00:09:49
Speaker
Take a moment to reflect on what you've uncovered. If you've been writing things down, look at your lists or mind maps. Think about the balance between the driving and restraining forces and how you can use this awareness to create progress.
00:10:11
Speaker
Do you have a greater appreciation for what's working in your favor and how achievable your goal is? Or perhaps, are you realizing your goal is unrealistic or you're not committed enough to do what it takes? Take this moment to assess the full picture, positive and negative, contributing to and pushing back against your journey toward your goal.
Strategic Approach to Goal Progress
00:11:02
Speaker
Force field analysis is a simple but powerful way to understand the dynamics of your situation. Here's why each step of this exercise is important. First, clarifying your goal ensures you know what you're working toward and keeps you focused.
00:11:23
Speaker
Second, identifying driving forces highlights the resources, skills, and opportunities you can build on to create momentum. Third, identifying restraining forces helps you see what's slowing you down so you can address those barriers effectively.
00:11:46
Speaker
Finally, fourth, strengthening driving forces and reducing restraining forces creates a balanced and strategic approach to moving forward. The beauty of force field analysis is that it helps you see where to focus your energy, whether that's amplifying the positive forces or addressing the negative ones.
00:12:11
Speaker
By using this tool, you can make more informed decisions and take purposeful action toward your goals.
Applying Analysis to Life Challenges
00:12:19
Speaker
Take what you've learned today and think about how you can apply it to other challenges in your work or life.
00:12:29
Speaker
If you'd like to learn more, I place links in the show notes. I also encourage you to email me and eric at.com or to reach out to me on social media. Thank you for your dedication to this. I hope you found it valuable and hope you will join me for the next business meditation.