Simple but Difficult!

I was reflecting on a transition recently.  Probably one of the most meaningful books about transition are those by William Bridges.  While he is writing about organizational change, his thoughts make so much sense for us career coaches.

I appreciate Bridges' simplicity.  He makes an important point:  Change is fast but TRANSITION is slow.  He writes that change happens whether people transition or not.  Transition, however, is about people -- how they are responding and dealing with the newness and its impacts.

Ok,  All that makes sense, but now let's look deeper at Bridges' model.  Change and transition begin with an ENDING.  Something is stopping.  That is the start point.

As we move through various emotions and realizations, we begin that slow process of transition.  Our next anchor in the model is called the "Neutral zone" which is sometimes pictured as a cloud. And cloud-like the neutral zone is!  It is a place where we have begun to release what was (honoring the ending perhaps) but yet we either do not know or have yet accepted what will be.  We have moved from denial or anger to a kind of "nothing-ness" emotionally -- an ambivalence.

Far off, not yet real, not yet believed is "the new."  But it is at the neutral zone where we turn to that new and begin the journey to embrace it.  Transitions, my friends, are happening.

Bridges' makes it simple to understand, but do not underestimate the difficulty we all face during change.       Thoughts by Dr. Connie