Photo by Mohamed Nohas on Unsplash
Change and transition? Seriously? Not again? I hear you, dear reader.
We’re all tired of proving once and again the hard way Heraclitus’ ancient insight that “Change is the only certainty in life.” In just a couple of years we’ve moved from “The Great Resignation”, through “Quiet Quitting” to the “The Great Layoffs”. Not to mention the COVID pandemic reshuffling all our “business as usual” rules. So much stress has been caused by changes we haven’t chosen ourselves, changes on societal or organizational level have been imposed on many of us.
( Go on reading, I promise it won’t be all so down in the damps 🙂 )
As William Bridges wrote, “It is not change that exhausts us, but transitions. Change is not the same as transition. Change is external (situational): a new place, anew boss, a new role in the team, new company policy. Transition is the psychological process that people go through to accept the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal.”
According to the Bridges model, transitions have three main phases:
End: Something ends, we are forced to give up something that is familiar and comfortable to us. It is possible to feel fear of the unknown, offense, bitterness. We understand what we have to part with and learn how to accept the loss, what remains in the past and what we will carry forward.
Neutral Zone: The old is over but the new is still unclear, it has not yet begun. It is the bridge between the old and the new – the heart of the transition, where we sow what we will later reap. In this phase we need to “work out” the psychological and emotional impacts of the change, achieve the realizations we need, recognize and mark the adjustments and actions that will help us make a successful transition.
New Beginning: We begin to embrace change, we introduce changes with a new attitude. A well-managed transition, with enough time, awareness and space in the neutral zone is the key that allows us to settle into new roles in sync with our current values, with clear meaning and goals. As a result, we feel reoriented and renewed.
If you are currently experiencing or have a big personal or career change coming up, don’t be afraid. It is up to us to design HOW we go THROUGH the changes. We have the capabilities to manage transitions in ways that are optimally good and successful for us. Well, it doesn’t happen without work, but we don’t have to do it all alone either. Coaching can be of great help in such periods.
If you are looking to turn change into a successful transition, and even a transformation in your life – let’s talk. I will be happy to help.