Kurt Lewin’s ideas are alive! But why doesn’t anybody recognize them?

Abstract

Although Kurt Lewin is a key figure in the history of organizational behavior, only a few scholars or practitioners can explain why he earned this status. In order to shine light on this dissonance, we elaborate on the reasons why Lewin’s ideas are seldom discussed in today’s curricula (e.g., Lewin’s work is difficult to pin down due to his interdisciplinary interest as well as his convoluted writing style). To highlight the enduring applicability of Lewin’s approaches, we link his ideas (e.g., psychological satiation) with more recent concepts, like burnout. To support the continuing relevance of Lewin’s work, we outline how his ideas can inspire current epistemology by discussing his distinction between Aristotelian and Galilean thinking and his quest to find unexpected observations to generate new knowledge. Furthermore, as Lewin is regarded as the “practical theorist,” revisiting his work will show how theoretical concepts can influence organizational practices. Specifically, we discuss how Lewin’s ideas can improve design thinking, which is a modern team-based approach to generate innovations.