Individual Change

The change pathway

People's response to change tends to follow predictable patterns. Extensive research has shown that people need to go through a series of stages for real and lasting change to occur.

Change does not occur instantly and it does not occur without costs. How the impact of change tracks over time is illustrated in Diagram 1.

We refer to this track as the Change Pathway. It is like a map to help us and our clients understand what is happening to them and what they need to do to move through their change as quickly and with as little cost as possible.

 

Shock

The initial reaction to a significant change such as an organisational restructure is one of Shock. On the surface people may not seem to react very much at all. Internally however, they freeze, physically and emotionally. You will often hear people say that they feel “numb” or “dazed”.

Reaction

After this initial shock the person may have one of two reactions. They can experience a sense of relief that finally something is being done - “what took you so long?”. Find and nurture these people, they are a change leader’s best allies.
The other typical reaction is denial. “If I ignore this, it will go away” or, “this doesn’t affect me”. These are the people you will need to direct your influence efforts towards.

Realisation

Reality eventually kicks in. The need to change becomes harder to ignore and the pressure to do something is greater. However, whilst the person may now see the need for change this is not the end of the change process, because they have yet to work out what to do and whether they can do it. The resulting feeling of frustration can be a powerful motivator to move on to the next stage.

Taking Control

Taking control is where the decision is made to make the change. The central challenge here is the confidence to “let go” of the old ways and to have the confidence to risk the unknown of the new. This turning point occurs when the felt need for change is combined with the confidence that success is possible. This provides the person with an empowering sense of gaining control over the future. Plans are made, new skills start to be learned, and a sense of hope and optimism emerges.

Action

Now the new plans and skills are put into practice. The challenge at this stage is to cope with the setbacks that will occur and not lose confidence. A change leader helps by providing personal and organisational support and rewarding new behaviours, even if these new behaviours don’t initially lead to success. Learning means trying and trying often means failure. A change leader can support the person by bolstering their confidence and combating any feelings of loss by reiterating the long term benefits.

Normalisation

Here the new behaviours match the demands of the environment and become stable habits. The role of the leader now is to ensure that the followers’ work environment (systems, structures and job descriptions) supports and reinforces the new way of doing things.

What can you do to move through the Change Pathway as quickly as possible?

Essentially the challenge is to build motivation and readiness to change and minimise resistance.

How is this done?

There is no single, simple answer to every person and situation but we believe that a thoughtful application of the Leading Change Drivers will help individuals, groups and organisations to engage in purposeful change by:

Need - being clear on what is wrong with the status quo

Benefit - what will be better about the intended future

Awareness of the gap between the two creates a motivating tension.

Fit - they need to devise and believe in a credible set of actions to close the gap

Confidence - they need to believe that they (self, team or organisation) are able to successfully carry out these action and close the gap.

Resolve - In an organisational or team setting it is vital that people see the leadership is behind the change. Every piece of research in this area finds that without leadership support, change is doomed to fail.

We have found this model to a very effective framework to use with individuals in coaching programs, team building and organisational change programs to diagnose readiness for change and to direct change interventions.

If you want to find out more about how you, your team or your business can change faster with less cost contact us. We'd love to help you.