I recently facilitated a conference session to bring insights to members of a senior management team on the links between leadership, innovation and change. Most organisations seek innovation and yet in my experience most need to get better at operationalising the change that results from the innovation they actively encourage. I have always valued this quote from William Bridges to bring powerful insight to change at a personal and organisational level and share it with you now:
“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Change is not the same as transition.
Change is situational: the new site, the new boss, the new team roles, the new policy.
Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation.
Change is external, transition is internal.”
I think this is a great distinction between the change imposed by leadership teams and the transition needed at a highly personal level for the change to be embraced. I don’t think managers and leaders invest the right kind of energy into conversations with individuals to ensure they can transition. This is a big distinction that is critical to the speed at which change is operationalised in an organisation.
