What is the FORCES model?

FORCES is an evidence-based model of organizational change readiness built on six dimensions — Fit, Ownership, Resourced, Clarity, Energy, and Security — drawn from peer-reviewed organizational psychology research.

What are the six dimensions of change readiness?

Fit: Values congruence, identity alignment, and strategic coherence — whether the change aligns with who the organization is and is becoming. Ownership: Personal accountability and sense of influence — whether people feel responsible for the change and able to shape how it unfolds. Resourced: Skills, tools, confidence, and support — whether people have what they need to do what the change requires. Clarity: Understanding of what is changing, why it matters, and what to do differently. Energy: Emotional and cognitive capacity to engage with the change right now. Security: Trust in leadership and psychological safety to speak up, make mistakes, and learn.

Is the FORCES self-assessment free?

Yes. The FORCES self-assessment is free, takes about two minutes, and gives you immediate results across all six dimensions.

How long does the FORCES assessment take?

The free self-assessment is 12 items and takes roughly two minutes to complete, with results shown immediately.

Energy

Do I have the emotional and cognitive capacity to engage with this change right now?

By Daniël Corsen · Co-Founder and Chief Reshaper, Reshapers

What it captures

Emotional availability, stress capacity, change fatigue from accumulated prior changes, present-state depletion, focus under uncertainty.

What low scores look like

Change feels like extra load. People protect time and reduce effort. Burnout accumulates. A single additional stressor can collapse capacity.

Why it matters

Change fatigue reduces commitment and increases cynicism. Resource loss is more psychologically potent than resource gain. Organizations that pile change upon change without allowing recovery create systemic fatigue. Employee willingness to support enterprise change dropped from 74% in 2016 to 43% by 2022.

Diagnostic insight

Energy is not attitude. A person can want to support a change and still be too depleted to engage. Low Energy with high scores on Fit, Ownership, and Clarity confirms this — the problem is capacity, not commitment. Pushing harder will deepen the spiral. Energy problems cannot be solved with communication or training. They require structural changes to workload, pace, and expectations.

Example question

“I have emotional capacity to engage with this change right now.”

Supporting research

Change Fatigue: Development and Initial Validation of a New Measure

Bernerth, J. B., et al. (2011) · Work & Stress

Conservation of Resources: A New Attempt at Conceptualizing Stress

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989) · American Psychologist

Job Burnout

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology

Measure Energy in your organization

Take the free FORCES self-assessment — about 2 minutes.

Start the assessment

The other five dimensions

FFit OOwnership RResourced CClarity SSecurity