Thinking about change using the transition curve…
Change management is a tricky subject and is something that has been on my mind for some months now. I have realized that being recognized as an effective change agent requires understanding the psychology of change and knowing where your audience is spread along the change transition curve at any given time.
The change transition curve, shown here:
… provides a way to think about where your audience lies along the curve. At the beginning of any change naturally folks quickly move to a place called “Endings”. At the endings point the audience for change begins to understand they need to give up the old way of doing things. This typically generates a great deal of discomfort and pushes them into the Pit of Despair or as it is also known “The Neutral Zone”. The goal of any change agent is to move the audience out of the Pit of Despair to a state of “New Beginnings” where they accept the change and integrate with the change.
It is important to understand that the audience can be analyzed in many discrete groups with the transition curve. You can analyze where the entire audience is at. You can break down your audience based on criticality for the change to succeed and even break down the audience to discrete members. At any given time these groups may be at many places along the curve.
For example at a macro level the entire change audience may be viewed as moving to “New Beginnings” but some members of the audience may still be in the Pit. Those outliers may be more damaging to the change success then is immediately realized. It is also important to recognize that the actions of an outlier or external forces can easily force the entire audience or certain members back into the Pit. The reinforcement phase of the ADKAR model serves to keep people at the New Beginnings point. It is important that the audience is hearing about the change requirements regularly and frequently post awareness and ability phases of any change.
So, in conclusion, think about the curve and where your audience is at. Think big picture and consider the individuals you are targeting. At the lowest level, everyone needs to be driven along the curve and receive reinforcement to the New Beginnings to drive successful change.
