Buying a Tata Harrier: A Force Field Analysis for Complex Choices

    A simple story about a man torn between keeping his perfectly good SUV and buying a new Tata Harrier teaches a decision-making tool you can use for any big call at work or at home: Force Field Analysis.

    Buying a Tata Harrier: A Force Field Analysis for Complex Choices

    Buying a Tata Harrier: A Force Field Analysis for Complex Choices

    Somebody I know once sat with his laptop open on a Sunday afternoon, staring at a Tata Harrier brochure, with his perfectly healthy 3-4 year old compact SUV parked right outside his window. He wasn't confused about whether he liked the Harrier. He was stuck on something harder — whether wanting it was reason enough to take on a fresh down payment and a new EMI for years to come.

    In short

    Where this sits on your Winning Kite

    Force Field Analysis lives on the Productivity — the bottom — side of your Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework). PQ is where intent turns into results: goal setting, time management, delegation, consistency, and — as we cover here — sound decision-making under pressure. A leader with high EQ and RQ but weak decision-making discipline still stalls at the moments that matter most. This technique exists to make sure you don't.

    Why complex choices need a different tool

    Most of our daily decisions are simple: what to eat, which route to drive, which email to answer first. But every so often you face a decision where two sets of forces pull at you with roughly equal strength — one side tugging you forward, the other holding you back. You feel stuck. Not because you lack information, but because you have too much of it, scattered across your head, unweighed and unsorted.

    This is exactly the kind of situation Force Field Analysis was built for — a technique borrowed from change-management thinking (in the same spirit as Kurt Lewin's classic driving-forces-versus-restraining-forces model) and adapted here into a plain, usable six-step process you can run on a notebook page or an Excel sheet in fifteen minutes.

    The six steps of Force Field Analysis

    Before we get to the Harrier, here is the skeleton of the technique, step by step:

    1. Step 1 — Create a Force Field Diagram. A simple table with three columns: reasons for the decision on the left, reasons against on the right, and a middle column left blank for now — this is where the weights will go.
    2. Step 2 — Assign scores to each factor. Go through every reason and give it a weight based on how strongly it actually influences you — not how it sounds on paper, but how much it truly matters to you.
    3. Step 3 — Calculate the total score. Add up both columns. This gives you a number for each side.
    4. Step 4 — Review factors and scores. Go back over the list. Did you miss a factor? Is any weight too high, too low, or no longer relevant?
    5. Step 5 — Look at the big picture. Step outside the table. Bring in your income, your constraints, your needs and your desires — the things a spreadsheet can't capture.
    6. Step 6 — Check if the decision achieves your goals. The final filter. Does the choice you're leaning toward actually serve what you set out to achieve?

    The detailed example: deciding whether to buy the new car

    Now the story. Imagine a person considering the purchase of a new Tata Harrier, despite already owning a compact SUV in good condition that he had bought just three to four years earlier. The decision was hard precisely because it demanded a large down payment and added the burden of a fresh monthly EMI on top of an existing, perfectly functional car. This is the case we run through the technique.

    Step 1: Building the diagram

    He starts with a table of three columns. In the first column — reasons for buying the new car — he writes down: the old car feels outdated, there's a genuine desire for a more luxurious vehicle, and the family now needs a bigger car. In the third column — reasons against — he lists: the old car is still in good condition, the EMIs will be a real cost, newer models of the Harrier could be released soon making this one feel dated fast, and parking space at home is limited. The middle column stays blank for now — that's where the weights go next.

    Step 2: Assigning weights

    This is where the technique earns its keep. Every factor in each column gets a weight based on how strongly it actually pulls on the decision — not a generic importance rating, but a personal one. In this example, "old car doesn't suit my status" carries a strong weight because status matters a great deal to this person emotionally, while a smaller, more practical factor like limited parking space carries a lighter weight. The exercise forces you to be honest with yourself about what is really driving you, rather than hiding behind the most socially acceptable reason.

    Step 3: Totalling the score

    Once every factor is weighted, both columns are added up. In this example, the total score for buying the new car comes to 32, and the total score against buying it comes to 23. On the surface, that looks like a clear win for the Harrier. But Avinash is emphatic on this point: the score is not the verdict. It is only there to help you lay your scattered thoughts out on paper where you can actually see them.

    Step 4: Reviewing the factors

    Before acting on any number, go back through the list. Is there a factor you missed — resale value of the old car, insurance costs, fuel efficiency, or how often the family actually needs the extra space? Should any weight be adjusted now that you're seeing it written down instead of just feeling it? This review step catches the blind spots that emotion tends to hide during the first pass.

    Step 5: Looking at the big picture

    Numbers on a page never capture everything. Step back and bring in the context a table can't hold — income, other financial commitments, near-term plans, and genuine needs versus desires. In the Harrier example, the old car may well be in good condition, but it no longer suits the person's status; at the same time, the EMI burden is a real and significant cost against a household's monthly cash flow. Looking at the whole picture — not just the two totals — is what tells you why the decision has been stuck in the first place, and what would actually need to change for you to move forward with confidence.

    Step 6: Checking against your goals

    The final step is the honesty check. Does the direction you're leaning toward actually serve your larger goals — financial stability, family comfort, career image, long-term savings — or does it just satisfy an immediate emotional pull? This step realigns the decision with the reason you were making it in the first place.

    Why this matters far beyond a car purchase

    I use the Tata Harrier example because almost everyone has lived a version of it — new phone versus the one that still works fine, new hire versus stretching the current team, new office versus renewing the lease, new product line versus doubling down on what's already working. The car is just the vehicle (pun intended) for a much bigger discipline: separating the emotional pull of a decision from its actual weight, laying both sides out where you can see them, and then zooming back out before you commit.

    Force Field Analysis won't make a hard decision easy. What it does is stop you from making it in your head, where every factor feels equally loud. On paper, weighted honestly, some factors shrink and others grow — and that alone often breaks the deadlock. This is precisely the kind of practical, repeatable tool I build into my Signature Corporate Training Programs — because managers who can navigate complex choices calmly, rather than freezing or deciding on gut alone, are the ones their teams trust in a crisis.

    For (weighted)Against (weighted)
    Old car feels outdated — high weightOld car still in good condition
    Desire for a more luxurious vehicleEMI burden on top of existing costs
    Need for a bigger carNew Harrier models may launch soon
    Doesn't suit my status — high weightLimited parking space — lower weight
    Total: 32Total: 23

    Notice something important: even with a 32-versus-23 score in favour of buying, the technique never says "therefore buy." It says "now you know what's really driving you — go check it against the bigger picture and your goals." That discipline of pausing between the score and the decision is the whole point.

    How to run this at work this week

    Pick one decision that's been sitting on your desk unresolved for more than a week — a hire you're not sure about, a vendor switch, a role change, a budget reallocation. Draw the three columns. Write every factor you can think of, for and against, without editing yourself. Weight each one honestly. Total both sides. Then don't stop there — walk through steps four to six: review, zoom out, and check the goal. You will very often find the deadlock wasn't about the decision at all — it was about one or two unweighted, unspoken factors finally being forced into daylight.

    This kind of structured thinking is something I work through hands-on with teams in my corporate training programs — because the gap between a good decision-maker and a stuck one is rarely intelligence. It's almost always a missing process. If you'd like to bring this and the other Winning Kite techniques to your organisation, get in touch through the contact page.

    Bring These Ideas to Your Team

    Avinash Chate turns the traits in Stars at India Inc. into live leadership & emotional-intelligence workshops. TEDx speaker · 11+ yrs training Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW & 1000+ leaders.

    ✅ Thanks! Avinash team will reach out within 24 hours.

    '}).catch(function(e){f.outerHTML='

    Something went wrong. WhatsApp +91 8793630001

    '});return false;">Select ServiceKeynote / Motivational SpeakingLeadership Development TrainingTeam Building WorkshopManager DevelopmentEmployee TrainingBook Avinash Now →

    Or WhatsApp directly: +91 87936 30001

    Work with Avinash Chate

    Avinash Chate

    TEDx Speaker · Founder, The Future Corporate · Author of Stars at India Inc.

    Avinash has trained the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and 1000+ corporate leaders across India. His work focuses on leadership, emotional intelligence and behavioural training rooted in Indian values and modern business needs.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is Force Field Analysis in decision making?

    Force Field Analysis is a decision-making technique where you list every factor pushing you toward a decision and every factor pushing you against it, assign each factor a weight, total both sides, and then step back to judge the whole picture rather than the score alone.

    Why did Avinash Chate use a Tata Harrier purchase as the example?

    Because it is a decision almost every reader can relate to: a person with a perfectly good 3-4 year old compact SUV weighing whether to take on a large down payment and new EMIs for a bigger, more prestigious Tata Harrier. The emotional pull and the financial resistance make it a clean case study for the technique.

    Should you decide purely on which column scores higher?

    No. The total score is only meant to help you organise your thoughts on paper. Avinash is explicit that you must still review each factor, look at the bigger picture — income, constraints, goals — and check whether the decision you're leaning toward actually serves your real objective.

    Where does this technique sit on the Winning Kite framework?

    Force Field Analysis is Technique #8 under Navigating Complex Choices, part of the Productivity (PQ) side — the bottom of the Winning Kite — which covers goal setting, time management, delegation and decision-making disciplines that convert intent into results.

    Related Articles by Avinash Chate

    Avinash Chate services

    Corporate Training · Leadership Development · Team Building · Motivational Speaking · All service locations

    ← Back to all articles · Book Avinash Chate

    By Avinash Chate — Maharashtra’s #1 Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker. .