New Article on Change and Transition

My new article on the subject of change and transition in the North Bay Business Journal is hot off the press. As a matter of fact, I just heard from a leader whose company has been through a recent merger. He called to tell me my column was “right on.” As he put it, “the hardest thing is the adjustment after the transaction, and we thought the transaction was tough.”

Understanding and Leading Change and Transition

We all know – and some of us even accept – that change is ever with us. Transition is the intrinsic companion to change. You may be wondering about the distinction between change and transition. Allow me to elaborate. Change is an event, something tangible that happens. In an organizational setting, it could be an acquisition or merger, a major re-organization, a move, a new boss. In contrast, a transition is a process, less tangible, yet still very real. It is the human experience, the psychological process that people go through as they acclimate to a change. It is an essential period of adjustment. It is the time between how it used to be, before the change, and how it is after the change has been accepted and integrated. It is a gradual process, and it takes time. This topic is of particular interest to me as I had the pleasure of working with one of the pioneering organizational analysts to explore this subject, William Bridges, Ph.D.

Click here to read the article.

Last week’s post regarding the disadvantages of scheduling back-to-back meetings seemed to resonate with many. One reader said it very well:
“I think people who are pretty good and confident on their feet figure they can wing it well enough to get by when their time is squeezed, foregoing the prep. And it’s mostly true–one can get by “well enough,” but that’s not the same as being totally on top of your game with a well-prepped meeting that goes really well.”