Constant change
is the new black
By Karen Ferris
Transitioning People Through Constant Change
William Bridges put it so well in his 1991 book “Managing Transitions: Making The Most of Change”
It isn't the changes that do you in, it's the transitions
Today, I think that this quote could not be truer. However, I do have a different perspective than Bridges intended.
Bridges and I Differ
What Bridges meant is that change is situational. It could be the implementation of new technology, a reorganisation of teams, a change in policy etc. Transition is psychological - the process that people go through as they internalize and come to terms with the details of the new situation that the change brings about.
He talks about the three phases that need to be managed to assist people transition to new ways of working.
ending/losing/letting go
the neutral zone
the new beginning
This is where Mr. Bridges and I diverge.
Change is Constant
I believe it isn’t the changes that do you in, it's the transitions – because the transition is now constant.
To thrive in today’s world, organisations have to enable employees to continually transition to different ways of working. Constant change is the new norm.
We do not have the capacity to “manage” people through three phases of transition in a world that is now described as VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, in which change is constant.
VUCA is not a new term. It was coined in the 1990s by the US military to describe conditions resulting from the Cold War. It’s now used widely in the