Lewin’s insight was that if you want to achieve change in behavior, there is one good way to do it and one bad way. The good way is by diminishing restraining forces, not by increasing the driving forces. ¹ Lewin’s “bad way” was to add—whether incentives for good behavior or punishments for bad behavior—because this increases tension in the system.” — Daneil Kahneman

• The Good Way (Diminishing Restraining Forces): You identify what stops a person from acting and remove those blocks. You ask “Why aren’t they doing this already?” and make movement easier.
• The Bad Way (Increasing Driving Forces): You add pressure, arguments, incentives, or threats. This builds tension in the system and usually fails because people still face the original barriers.

Example

Promising Ezra a cookie if he reads a book instead of watching a show increases his motivation not to swipe on his iPad. But promising Ezra a cookie does not make it any easier for him to resist the iPad. In fact, promising Ezra a cookie can make him more frustrated if he succumbs to the iPad temptation. I can pursue the same goal, getting Ezra to engage with a book instead of stare at a screen, by removing the tempting iPad from the situation, placing it out of sight, or accidentally letting it run out of batteries overnight. This is an example of Lewin’s “good” way of changing a system, because it actually relieves tension.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Incentives