Organizational Growth: The importance of transition management

The reason why organizations are able to grow healthy is their ability to go through transitions and not just manage change but see beyond change into transitions. Many executives in businesses and Not-For-Profit organizations wonder why employees, and sometimes themselves, still talk about the “good old days” when the organization has just gone through a major transition. Have you heard them say “I like the way we used to have meetings”, “I wish we could go back to the old way of reporting”, “Why did we need to relocate, the old offices were better”. I could go on and on and on with such examples, and you could probably add many more as well. Well the short answer is, they manage the change, but definitely not the transition.

Transition management goes far deeper into the change or restructuring than change management does. Change management is clear, precise and quick, focused on the bottom-line, which is monetary focused. Well, if you don’t look after the people, who brings in the money, during a “transition”, then you will lose them in the long run, if not already in the short term.

The picture above is the scene of the Ironman South Africa transition zone in Port Elizabeth. During the Ironman I learned much about transitions and its impact on us.

Transitions have basically three stages, Old, Neutral and New. Change only has two, well maybe only one, called New. I would just like to expand more on the first stage. In working with businesses and individuals, I have noticed how we are all driven towards the new. New Job, New Products, New Strategy etc. But transitions do not start there, as William Bridges explain in his book: Managing Transitions. Many people are excited about the new and want to move into it as soon as possible. You can see it at the end of a season, just before people move to a new house, begin working at a new firm and begin their own business. But transitions start at the end and then move into the neutral and only then move into the new.

In Ironman South Africa, the focus for me at each transition was first to get rid of the Old before I could take time in the neutral zone, putting appropriate shoes on before I ventured on into the new. There was no way for me to cycle with my wet-suite or run with my cycling shoes. Yes Ironman is a short, quick transition process, but it still is a transitional process. But the transition was not just about a change of clothes, it was also about a change in mindset. My mental focus changed for each stage. If I wanted to benefit as much as possible from each stage, then I had to quickly process the previous stage and then completely focus on the new stage ahead. During the run, my focus had to be completely on the run, not on previous stages: the swim or the cycle.

Letting go of the Old is painful. Every time I assist individuals and companies who are in transition, the light bulb goes on when they realize the importance of finishing with the Old first, before going into the Neutral and New. There is so much to learn and appreciate when you are finished with the Old. If done correctly you will go into the New with more energy and fervor than people who don’t finish with the Old and only jump into the New. You see this in the way people talk about the Old. The ones who dealt with the Old are able to talk with respect about it without becoming tense. People, who don’t deal with the Old, mostly try to avoid talking about the past and if they do, they always talk down on it. If you want to build a resilient company or be a resilient individual, then finishing with the Old, is of utmost importance as the number 1 resilient factor is to have a reconciled past which you can acknowledge, embrace and learn from in order to move on.

So what transition are you in? What Old things do you need to finish with in order to fully embrace the New? What do you as an organization have to finish with in order to fully clothe yourself with the New? Finish gracefully with the Old before you move into the Neutral and New.

In the next article we will cover the neutral zone. Look out for that as you should not stay in the Old but finish properly with it and then move on.

Cias Ferreira