Managing Transitions summary

Preparing your people for the personal impact of change is just as important as strategizing the practical elements. This is more than just giving them project plans and timelines. It requires getting your team generally ready, willing, and able to cope with the human side of change. 

Take the clothing company Benetton – they decided to diversify their brand by buying up a range of sporting goods companies, including Rollerblade. The idea was that in addition to the gear itself, Benetton would be able to cross-promote sportswear that they produced. They figured that the acquired companies would be delighted to become part of an internationally successful brand. 

So, we’ve covered why transition planning is so important. Now let’s talk about the art of getting people to let go. 

When shifting the status quo, letting go can be the hardest part. It might even evoke a grieving process. This isn’t just your staff being difficult, or being stubbornly set in their ways. It’s a natural step in coming to terms with the end of a comfortable stability. A lot of people will be anxious about their jobs, or mourn the skills they have developed that allow them to thrive in the current way of being. 

There’s an uncomfortable place between where you were, and where you want to be. It’s that unsettling gap, the one when old structures have been dissolved, but the new ones aren’t fully defined yet. This is what’s known as the neutral zone. 

What makes the neutral zone difficult is the uncertainty that people feel about identity, status, and direction. Everyone is holding their breath, wondering if the rocket ship is going to launch. Will the risk be worth it? It’s a stressful point in time, but if handled right, it can be a pivotal phase. 

After the creative ferment of the neutral zone, it’s time to crystallize the new beginnings taking shape. This is when reinvented purposes, roles, norms, and workflows get defined for the next chapter.

Recognize that beginnings prompt the same questions as other transitions – “who am I now?”, “how do I contribute?”, “what rules do I follow?”. 

As we near the end of our change journey together, let’s have a quick discussion about different scales of change within an organization. 

First, we have organizational development. Organizational development is the everyday improvement of skills and processes that happen in the “business as usual” state. Leadership training programs, ongoing quality enhancement projects, introducing minor changes to tech tools – these advancements optimize work within established systems.