©2015 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. Getting Through the Wilderness William Bridges, Ph.D

©2015 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

Getting Through the WildernessWilliam Bridges, Ph.D.


Understand the difference between change and transition and grasp the implications between the two.

Find ways to help yourself feel more grounded as you move through change.


Change

Transition


Change and Transition

• New Site• New Boss• New Team Roles• New Policy

• The process people go through to come to terms with the new situation

Transition is “Psychological”

Change is “Situational”


• Understood in terms of a beginning, or starting something• Usually happens quickly• Experienced externally and visibly (changing jobs, marriage, new

home, loss of loved one, etc.)


Change:


• Understood in terms of endings — begins with leaving something behind, letting go, etc.• Takes more time• Experienced internally (might be invisible or hard to observe in

others)


Transition:


The Experience of Transition

EndingKey Issue:Letting go of what was

BeginningKey Issue:Managing the ambivalence of starting something new

Neutral ZoneKey Issue:Finding clarity amid the confusion

In either case, you are in more than one of these phases at the same time, and the movement through transition is marked by a change in the dominance of

one phase as it gives way to the next.


• Define what is or what is not over.

• Identify what you are losing.

• Seek information — don’t sit back.

• Take a piece with you.

• Mark the ending.

• Expect and accept your own feelings.

• Try to find out what you may be gaining.

Tips to “Clean Endings”


• Accept it.

• Listen to how you describe the situation.

• Expect to be untethered, doubtful, and stressed-out.

• Set short-term goals for yourself.

• Don’t expect to be perfect.

• Are there hidden opportunities with the confusion?

Navigating Through the “Neutral Zone”


• Maybe the new way really won’t work out.

• Triggers memories of other beginnings.

• No more “hiding” in the neutral zone.

• Something really ended — “uh oh.”

Beginnings – Not as Easy as it Seems


The Purpose

• Why we have to do this

The Picture

• How the attainment of our goal will look and feel

The Plan

• How we get there, step by step

The Part

• What you can and must do to help us move forward

Communicating Change – Four P’s


“Nothing so undermines organizational change as the failure to think through who will have to let go of what when change occurs.”

William Bridges

Undermining Organizational Change


• Apprehending the business reasons for change• Learning about personal and organizational readiness for

change

Understanding the Need for Change

• Planning the approach and specific steps to be taken• Engaging the organization to prepare for changeFraming the Change

• Executing the plan for change• Helping individuals and groups manage the transition

Implementing the change

• Evaluating the outcomes and taking necessary actions• Helping people become attached to a new way of being

Assessing and Sustaining the Change

Four Phases of Change


Managing Complex Change


The Change Style Indicator® measures individual style in approaching change and situations involving change.

What Does the CSI Measure?

Change Style Indicator® (CSI)

Developed by: W. Christopher Musselwhite and Robyn P. Ingram


Facts about Change Styles

• Style reflects aspects of personality or preferences — like right- or left-handedness• Scores do not indicate effectiveness at utilizing a

preferred style• There is no right or wrong, “better” or “worse” style


Understanding Your Score Will Help You

• Manage your response to change• Recognize and appreciate the contributions that each

change style offers• Increase productivity through effective responses to

change style differences• Lead others through change


Change Style Indicator®

The CSI is a continuum-based model divided into three styles:

CONSERVER • PRAGMATIST • ORIGINATOR


Change Style Continuum

CONSERVER • PRAGMATIST • ORIGINATOR

66 13 0 13 66





Conservers

• Appear disciplined, precise, methodical, and cautious.• Prefer solutions that are tested and proven.• Accept conventional assumptions.• Enjoy predictability.• Honor tradition and established routines.

Style Characteristics

©1996 W. Christopher Musselwhite, Ed.D. All Rights Reserved.



Originators

• May appear undisciplined, abstract, and spontaneous.• Prefer quick and expansive change.• Challenge assumptions.• Enjoy risks.• May treat accepted policies and procedures with

little regard.





Pragmatists

• Appear practical, agreeable, and flexible.• Serve as mediators.• See both sides of an argument.• May take a middle-of-the-road approach.




Conservers See Originators As:

• Disruptive• Disrespectful of tradition and history• Generators of turbulent work environments• Insensitive to the feelings of others• Wanting change for the sake of change

Perceptions



Originators See Conservers As:

• Dogmatic• Hesitant to share new ideas• Compliant to authority• Stuck within the system• Defenders of the status quo

Perceptions



Conservers and Originators See Pragmatists As:

• Compromising• Mediating• Indecisive• Easily influenced• Noncommittal

Perceptions



Collaboration

Conservers• Bring order out of

turbulence• Revitalize current systems for

tomorrow• Work within the system to

bring about improvement ideas and greater efficiencies

Originators• Catalyze the necessary

turbulence• Help create the break from

worn out systems• Look outside the system to

bring about different ideas and different structures


Documents

©2015 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. Getting Through the Wilderness William Bridges, Ph.D