Kubler-Ross grief cycle

The change roller coaster

Mapping the impacts of change

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss physician/researcher who undertook seminal work on the grief process.

The Kubler-Ross model, was first introduced in her 1969 book "On Death and Dying" in which she describes five stages of emotional and psychological response to grief, tragedy and catastrophic loss.

Many regard her as the mother of the modern hospice movement. However the wider business significance of her work has been the realisation that people go through similar responses when faced with lesser – but still significant changes in their working and personal lives.

The major significance of the Kubler-Ross model is that it maps the emotional responses that your staff are likely to experience if or when you announce a major step-change and especially if [as in the current climate] this is likely to contain bad news.

Here is a schematic based on this model that highlights what is often referred to as The Change Roller Coaster.

This representation of the change roller coaster [based on the Kubler-Ross grief cycle model] highlights very clearly the emotional terrain that your staff are likely to be experiencing, and the necessity for clear yet compassionate leadership - and especially through the initial phases of the change.

This where thorough attention to the Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis process and the Communications Strategy is very important.

Fuller details can be found here - Kubler-Ross grief cycle. This article outlines how people get stuck in the various stages of the cycle or move forward too soon and get caught in a loop between 2 stages.

Leading your people through change, putting it all together and managing the whole messy business

Surprisingly the insights of Kubler-Ross as simply expressed in the change roller coaster model are all too frequently overlooked, and this is reflected in the failure rate with change initiatives.

A major underlying cause of the 70% failure rate of all major change initiatives, is the failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it.

There are two levels of impact. First there are the new ways of working, the cultural shifts, and the new processes, procedures and structures. Secondly, there are the emotional and psychological adjustments that people go through as they adjust to these new ways.

Daniel Goleman and others have stressed the importance of the leader's ability to articulate a message that resonates with their followers' emotional reality and their sense of purpose, and thus motivate them to move in a specific direction.

John Kotter says that the single biggest challenge facing leadership in a change process is just getting people to change their behaviour - and that happens:

"When they are motivated to do so, and that happens when you speak to their feelings."

William Bridges, the internationally recognised thought leader and authority on leading and managing change, has said:

“A change can work only if the people affected by it can get through the transition it causes successfully.”

Change is a messy business fraught with complexity , multiple factors and many things that can, and usually do, go wrong. There are 3 broad areas that need to be included in any successful change initiative, namely:

• Leadership that directly addresses the transitions and emotional dimension of those impacted by the change, and provides inspirational motivation
  
• A change model and methodology that covers the multiple factors that must be addressed
  
• Action management that shows and assists people with the specifics of exactly what is required of them

These are addressed in the "Practitioners Masterclass" which takes a holistic view of the key areas and shows you how to put all this into practise.

These are addressed in the "Practitioners Masterclass" which takes a holistic view of the key areas and shows you how to put all this into practise.

And all of this is examined [in the context of the Kubler-Ross model], co-related and integrated with the other key areas leading your people through change, putting it all together and managing the whole messy business.

To equip yourself, stay one step ahead with the tools and processes that will enable you to manage the messy stuff - check out the Practitioners' Masterclass [or click on the image to the right].

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Putting all this into practise

• EZINE - Understanding change management

• Discussion & Feedback - What's your experience?

• FREE Consultation - "Ask The Change Management Expert"

• Resources - Practical support - for change management

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