Managing Transitions Read online

  PRAISE FOR

  Managing Transitions

  “Pick up any business book today and you will find words about unending change. What better guide for this unrelenting change than someone who has spent decades studying and reporting on how to survive it? If you need that guide—grab this book! William and Susan Bridges provide a road map to get through the most difficult work and life passages.”

  —Beverly Kaye, founder, Career Systems International; coauthor, Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em

  “This richly updated new edition of insightful Managing Transitions, by William Bridges, filled with fresh and compelling examples, will be indispensable for leaders trying to guide their organizations through a period of unsettling change by managing the pain and uncertainty of the neutral zone. A timely update to a timeless book.”

  —Sally Helgesen, author, The Female Vision, The Web of Inclusion, The Female Advantage, and Thriving in 24/7

  “Managing change is a way of life in today’s organizations, yet too often it’s handled poorly. That’s why Managing Transitions has become the essential guide on how to do it right. This new, revised edition deftly guides the reader through the organizational change process from start to finish, offering practical advice grounded in the authors’ vast experience working with every size and type of organization. This book is must reading for every leader, manager, and employee undergoing a change process. Come to think of it, doesn’t that include just about everyone?”

  —John Alexander, president, Leadership Horizons and former president and CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership

  “The most important idea I have encountered about organizational change is this: great change requires human transition. Decades of experience have proven that no magic set of steps, no financial incentive, no clever argument, and no threat can guarantee that a workforce will embrace change. People need real help in psychologically transitioning to a new situation—and that help is available here. In this fourth edition of Managing Transitions, William and Susan Bridges further expand their proven approach for helping people and organizations embrace real change.”

  —Walter McFarland, coauthor of Choosing Change and board chair emeritus for the Association for Talent

  “Managing Transitions is an essential guide for leaders and Chief People Officers who are navigating transitions and change within any organization, It is also a handbook in life for dealing with endings, new beginnings, and the disruptive ‘neutral zone’ in between. This book provides a pathway to human and authentic leadership and a way to gracefully navigate through the changes we all face in life.”

  —Gabrielle Toledano, EVP and chief talent officer, Electronic Arts, Inc.

  “Susan Bridges has done something generous, courageous, and brilliant with her updating of this classic and treasured book by Bill Bridges. In a collaborative process with the ideas of her late husband and business partner, she has made the language, concepts, and examples fresh again and available to a new audience. Bill’s ideas have been fundamental to my own practice, and now they will inspire a new generation of leaders and change-makers to be wise, humane, and strategic, as they move their complex organizations through an increasingly challenging and complex set of realities.”

  —B. Kim Barnes, CEO, Barnes & Conti Associates and author of Exercising Influence: Making Things Happen at Work, at Home, and In Your Community

  “Change is constant in today’s global business environment, and yet change management continues to be a challenge for most organizations. That’s why Managing Transitions remains an important book; it identifies the critically important role that understanding the human side of transition plays in effective change management. This updated edition is a must-read for anyone who wants to lead change successfully.”

  —Tony Bingham, president and CEO for the Association for Talent Development

  OTHER BOOKS BY WILLIAM BRIDGES

  Transitions

  The Way of Transition

  JobShift

  Creating You & Co.

  The Character of Organizations

  Surviving Corporate Transition

  A Year in the Life

  Managing Transitions

  MAKING THE MOST OF CHANGE

  4TH EDITION

  By William Bridges, PhD, with Susan Bridges

  This fourth edition first published in 2017 by Nicholas Brealey Publishing

  An imprint of John Murray Press

  An Hachette UK company

  1

  First edition published in the UK in 1995

  Copyright © William Bridges Associates 1991, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2017

  Foreword © 2017 by Patrick Lencioni

  The right of William Bridges and Susan Bridges to be identified as the Authors of the Work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Nicholas Brealey Publishing was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters.

  Editorial production by Lori Hobkirk at the Book Factory

  Designed by Cynthia Young

  Set in Adobe Garamond

  ISBN 978-1-47366-450-0

  eBook ISBN 978-1-85788-425-8

  Nicholas Brealey Publishing

  John Murray Press

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London, EC4Y 0DZ, UK

  Tel: 020 3122 6000

  Nicholas Brealey Publishing

  Hachette Book Group

  Market Place Center, 53 State Street

  Boston, MA 02109, USA

  Tel: (617) 263 1834

  www.nicholasbrealey.com

  www.wmbridges.com

  Dedicated to the memory of William Bridges

  and the legacy he left

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Foreword by Patrick Lencioni

  Introduction

  PART ONE: THE PROBLEM

  1It Isn’t the Changes That Do You In

  2A Test Case

  PART TWO: THE SOLUTION

  3How to Get People to Let Go

  4Leading People through the Neutral Zone

  5Launching a New Beginning

  6Transition, Development, and Renewal

  PART THREE: DEALING WITH NONSTOP CHANGE IN THE ORGANIZATION AND IN YOUR LIFE

  7How to Deal with Nonstop Change

  PART FOUR: THE CONCLUSION

  8A Practice Case

  9Conclusion

  Afterword: by Steven Kelban

  APPENDICES

  A: Assessing Your Transition Readiness

  B: Planning for Transition

  C: Setting Up a Transition Monitoring Team

  D: Career Advice for Employees of Organizations in Transition

  E: The Leader’s Role in Times of Transition

  Index

  About the Authors

  Acknowledgments

  One rainy evening in Paris just before New Year’s 2015, I was leaving my hotel for dinner when
an email arrived. Would I be interested in doing a revision of Managing Transitions for its twenty-fifth anniversary? While the original concepts had remained timely and relevant, this was the perfect occasion to bring my thoughts for fresh and updated material, stories, and case studies into the work. Of course I would!

  It has been inspiring over the years to hear how clients have developed the lifelong skills to manage transitions in their organizations and individual lives. It is gratifying to learn from them and share with you the ways in which they harness power for continued growth, renewal, and improved lives.

  Consultants, experts, clients, and colleagues enthusiastically contributed perspective, expertise, and stories about the global impact of change and how it puts organizations and industries in nonstop transition. Their generous time and engagement made all the difference in these updates. My thanks to each of you.

  A toast to Claire Ivett, my editor, who has been delightfully supportive, encouraging me every step of the way. Alex Camlin, creative designer, brought forth a lovely new cover for the book. Kevin Hanover and Jillian Farrel in marketing have steadily done wonders to keep this book alive. Lissa Warren, publicist, has provided timely coaching and significant results over the decades. I am especially grateful to John Radziewicz for his quiet guidance over the years.

  A special thanks to John Flood for his considerable expertise in conducting research and interviews, and for his editorial assistance.

  Our friends at Linkage, Inc. have been valued partners in delivering William Bridges’ certification and training programs during the past decade. I continue to be delighted with their innovative and leading-edge ideas about how to keep our materials fresh, stimulating, and creative. They have reached thousands more than we ever could have on our own. Thank you for keeping the legacy alive.

  As members of The Learning Network—a consortium of thought leaders, writers, and consultants in the field of leadership—Bill and I formed many deep friendships with our colleagues during the past twenty years. I am deeply grateful for your advice, wisdom, humor, and comfort.

  To my dearest friends, and Bill’s, and our families, I treasure you for your encouragement throughout this process.

  Bill and I met nearly thirty years ago as professional colleagues, married a decade later, merged our businesses, and began an extraordinary journey. We shared a mutual respect, laughter, support, encouragement, and steadfast love through the years, as we partnered in life and work. In navigating the transitions in my own life since Bill’s passing in 2013, I continue to be inspired by his timeless wisdom. I am reminded daily that the essence of life lies in transition, where hope and creativity, insight, and possibility reside. He leaves a rich legacy in his work, which continues today.

  —Susan Bridges, 2016

  Foreword by Patrick Lencioni

  July 2016

  Bill Bridges’ work on transition has played such a fundamental role in my life, personally and professionally, that it is hard for me to know how to describe its power. So I’ll start with how I came to learn about it.

  I first met Bill before I knew he was a world-renowned author and thinker. I was introduced to him for an informational interview of sorts, just to learn about the world of organizational consulting.

  Bill was kind and patient with me, a twenty-three-year-old searching for a meaningful career. Little did I know I would be spending the next thirty years using his work to help clients, friends, and family members navigate the most difficult and productive times in their lives.

  The breadth of people and situations I’ve seen benefit from the transition management model is astounding. From my CEO clients who are trying to merge two companies or introduce a new product line, to a priest who is trying to reform his religious order, to a family friend struggling with a new baby or a new job or the departure of her last child going off to college, every last person I’ve introduced to Bill Bridges’ work has had the same reaction. “This changes everything.”

  All too often, people and organizations that are confronted with change find themselves struggling and don’t know why. They’ve applied every practical solution, quantitative method, and technical approach to managing change, and they’re at a loss for why it’s not working. And then they learn about the Bridges transition model and realize that change and transition are very different animals. They finally come to grips with the fact that the human element, the wonderfully unpredictable part of business and leadership and life that academics and experts so often overlook, is the difference between success and failure, between transformational growth and painful decline. I will never get tired of seeing clients and friends experience the palpable relief they experience when it all comes together.

  Beyond the jaw-dropping power of Bill’s ideas, there is the timelessness of it all. It is as relevant and easily applicable today as it was when he first taught it to me back in the 1980s. At the time, it would have been easy for me to wonder whether the power of Bill’s principles was merely a function of the kindness and thoughtfulness of the man who was standing there teaching it to me. Three decades later, even after Bill has passed on, it is clear that his ideas continue to serve in profound ways.

  I hope you are able to find as much relief, encouragement, and insights in this book as thousands and thousands of others have over the years. Including me.

  Diseases always attack men when they are exposed to change.

  —HERODOTUS, GREEK HISTORIAN (FIFTH CENTURY BCE)

  Introduction

  It has been twenty-five years since the publication of the first edition of Managing Transitions. In working with organizations and individuals over the years, we’ve heard everyone talk about how much faster change is occurring. Indeed, many people feel that they have never before experienced the types of unprecedented changes that they are now.

  Once-powerful companies unable to nimbly manage transitions have vanished, industries across the board are reinventing themselves, and in many cases government is transforming the whole game. All around us we see the ways in which technology is altering how business is done. Start-ups are disrupting well-established industries. The Internet, social networking platforms, and mobile applications have transformed the entire nature of communications. We are now in a 24/7 environment where information is found and shared instantly, with far-reaching implications on governments and societies. Those organizations that refuse to adapt will be left out in the cold, while more savvy competitors will leap ahead.

  Adapting to the realities of this new world, leaders are confronted with a serious problem: in a quickly transforming landscape, they must be able to move their organizations from an initial idea to full-scale implementation with little to no time for employees to adjust to the new way of doing things. What’s more, they must contend with a pervasive sense of economic uncertainty. Employees are uneasy about their financial future and wonder how long the tumultuous economic environment will last, what will happen next, and if they will “make it.”

  Meanwhile, the workforce itself continues to change. There is more diversity and inclusion of people with different cultural and religious backgrounds in the workforce, more women in leadership roles, colleagues from multiple generations, and often workers in remote locations. People must be allowed to think for themselves, work both independently and collaboratively with greater flexibility, be creative, take risks, and go the extra mile for the customer for optimal results. Employees have to bring both their hearts and their minds to work. But how are leaders to encourage this when many people are paralyzed by fear and worried about their ability to make mortgage payments, pay down debt, provide childcare, and cover healthcare costs?

  We know that managing people and organizations during times of tumultuous change are some of the most difficult tasks a leader faces. We are beginning to get glimmers of the future, but there are still many unknowns and much uncertainty. During such times, a leader might be tempted to take short cuts, or to focus on new tactics for accomplishing qu
ick results. We caution against that.

  But the good news is that while the changes we are facing differ from any we’ve experienced before, the transition process by which people get through change is well mapped. There are many things about this new world that we cannot yet understand, but we do know what change does to people and how to help them get through it. It is helpful to remember the essential insight at the heart of our first book, Transitions: “Chaos is not a mess, but rather it is the primal state of pure energy to which the person returns for every true new beginning. . . .”

  In managing the transitions that flow from the changes, we have a set of oars that is tried and true. As we step back from the unknown aspects of the changes, we can gain comfort from knowing that we understand what is happening and know how to navigate through the multiple transitions we are experiencing. We find that there is a way to get from one place to another.

  First, it is still true, as we wrote in 1991, that the results you are seeking depend on getting people to stop doing things the old way and getting them to start doing things a new way. And since people have a personal connection with how they work, there is just no way to do that impersonally.

  And, second, transition management is based on some abilities you already have and some techniques you can easily learn. It isn’t an undertaking that will offend anyone’s sense of personal privacy, theirs or yours. Instead, it is a way of dealing with people that makes everyone feel more comfortable.

  We have shared a lifelong interest in organizational change and why it does not happen, even when logic and common sense seem to be on its side. We have spent decades consulting with organizations of all kinds—private, government, non-profit, and social—as specialists in helping people through organizational change. We have learned how self-defeating it is to try to overcome people’s resistance to change without addressing the threat the change poses to their world.