How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 272

One danger for the individual, team and organization occurs
when an individual persists in operating a set of practices that
have been consistently shown to fail (or result in an undesirable
consequence) in the past and that do not help extend and
elaborate their world-view. Another danger area is that of denial
where people maintain operating as they always have denying
that there is any change at all. Both of these can have detrimental
impact on an organization trying to change the culture and focus
of its people.
John M Fisher 2000 updated 2003 (disillusionment stage added).
References: The Person In Society: Challenges To A
Constructivist Theory, Geissen, Psychosozial-Verlag, and George
Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology Theories.
In detailing John Fisher's Transition Curve here it is appropriate
to acknowledge the quite separate and independent work of
Ralph Lewis and Chris Parker, who described a change concept
also called 'Transition Curve' in their paper 'Beyond The Peter
Principle - Managing Successful Transitions', published in the
Journal of European Industrial Training, 1981. The Lewis-Parker
'Transition Curve' model approaches personal change from a
different perspective to the Fisher model, and is represented in a
seven stage graph, based on original work by Adams, Hayes and
Hopson in their 1976 book Transition, Understanding and
Managing Personal Change.
The Lewis-Parker 'Transition
summarised as follows:
1. Immobilisation
Shock.
expectations v reality.

Curve'

seven

Overwhelmed

stages

mismatch:

2. Denial of Change - Temporary retreat. False competence.
3. Incompetence - Awareness and frustration.
4. Acceptance of Reality - 'Letting go'.
1150

are