Fascinatingly, humans lose around 200,000,000 skin cells every hour[1]. That is almost five thousand million skin cells that a person loses during a 24-hour period[1]. So, even the human body undergoes change constantly.
→ Change + Human Beings = Transition 🙂 This is an equation, which conveys that change and transition are different.
However, still change and transition are part of the same equation.
Where change happens frequently, often instantly, transitions take time in this context.
In a previous blog called How Life is in the Transitions: Happy New Beginning, I wrote about this fascinating topic of change and transition and how to distinguish between the two.
In this blog article, I will combine insights about change management with transition management.
From change to transition.
Where Change is events or situationally driven, meaning that it refers to an external event or situation that often happens quickly, Transition is what I like to refer to as the human side of change[2].
Change can for example be external changes such as job changes, organizational changes, mergers and acquisitions or more personally a loss of a family member. Transition, however, is the internal psychological reorientation that people undergo as they develop new habits, behaviors and skill-sets and let go of old ones as they adapt to the change[2,3].
Very often in organizations there is an overemphasis on change management compared to transition management, i.e. the human side of change.
If we take the example of major change in an organization, like an organizational change in a business area, such external changes are often followed by a period of more uncertainty and mistrust on an individual, team and organizational level.
As people are internalizing what the change means to them and what they are loosing and/or gaining, they also let go of the old. This is often in transitions referred to as ending or “the long goodbye”[2,3]. During that non-linear process where people come to terms with the new reality and situation and begin to create a new beginning, they adjust and reorient towards new possibilities[2,3]. This is called a neutral zone or also referred to as “reorientation” or “the messy middle” that can involve challenging adaptation and be filled with feelings and emotions to handle[2,3].
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
Norman Vincent Peale
As I was scrolling my LinkedIn article feed some time ago, I came across this great illustration with an overview of some of the emotional impacts of change. Change can impact both our feelings, emotions, behaviors and physiology. This is what I mean, when I say that transitions are the human side of change.

From the above illustration, it is a normal psychological process to go through when change happens. So, change can spark shock, fear, mistrust and uncertainty, but also hope, motivation and enthusiasm for the implications of the change.
These completely normal feelings and emotions from resistance to engagement occur when we face something unexpected like a change. The worry, fear and skepticism we feel in times of change are neural responses in our brain, which is an evolutionary mechanism to keep ourselves safe, i.e. a self-preservation mechanism[4].
In fact, we seem to trigger the same neural responses that drive us toward survival when we perceive that the ways we are treated, i.e. our social needs, are threatened[5].
When we encounter something unexpected like an organizational change, the amygdala in the brain, a part of our limbic system, responds to the unexpected as a threat or danger – known as the fight, flight or freeze response[5].
In such contexts building trust and psychological safety becomes key. In his great article Psychological Safety – what, why and how?, Rand Blak Barawy brings a great overview on the main characteristics of psychological safety if you are interested to know more.
Now, let’s try to combine these normal human responses to change and uncertainty, i.e. transition management, with a useful change model to help better lead yourself and others through change.
The Change Model.
Change follows predictable patterns, yet roughly 70% of transformations in organizations fail.
And only 57% of leaders seem to have the capacity to support their teams through change[6].
When it comes to change and adversity, that is critical because the leader’s mood and behaviors drive the moods and behaviors of everyone else[7]. Leaders are responsible for around 50-70% of the organizational climate, which impacts organizational performance and well-being.
In fact, how people feel about working in an organization accounts for 20-30% of the performance.
All the while, leaders facing change and uncertainty try to balance between managing their own experience of uncertainty and leading their teams through change.
“There is nothing permanent except change.”
Heraclitus
As a leader, you can help your team better self-navigate through change, which can increase employee sustainable performance by 29% according to recent Gartner research[6].
FranklinCovey’s Change Model illustrated below can be a very useful and simple tool that can help you in that process to understand the predictable patterns of change[8].

“The Change Model” illustrates the four zones or phases of change, which can assist you as a leader to understand where you and your team members are in regards to changes happening. The x-axis of “The Change Model” represents results and the y-axis represents time.
The four visually portrayed zones are[8]:
- Zone of Status Quo: This is a zone characterized by a steady state of business-as-usual. This is a place where team members feel comfortable and in control and when it is easy to become complacent. This zone is temporary as changes happens all the time.
- Zone of Disruption: As soon as you feel a change (external event or situation[2]) you enter the zone of disruption. This is where performance is disrupted by confusion, results become unstable and team members may begin to feel uncomfortable, frustrated, disoriented or even excited about the change. During this time, you as a leader has an important role as a clarity-maker and you can help your team members go through this zone by: 1) helping them understand what is changing and why and 2) helping them clarify what the change means for them individually.
Consider these questions for your team members[9]:
– What is driving them?
– What is their orientation towards the change?
– Are they approaching the change from a place of fear or hope?
This will help your team members get to the point of decision.
The clarity-maker role will help clarify for your team members what the point of change is. Because only when we see the point of a change and agree with it — at least enough to give it a try — we change our mindset and behaviors. This doesn’t mean that you or your team members know everything though, just enough clarity to move forward. - Zone of Adoption: This zone begins, when we commit to the change, i.e. when we reach the point of decision and decides to act. This phase can appear smooth on the illustration above, however this is when most changes fail. This can be a messy zone, where team members experience feeling lost and even setbacks, so this is a phase of persistence and trying, learning and recommitting.
This is a time where you as a leader can help your team members stay focused on the expected benefits and compelling story about the change and help them staying committed. - Zone of Innovation / Better Performance: The zone of innovation or better team performance is when the team members feel energized and a renewal from the new beginning of stability. Here you as a leader can encourage further innovation by helping the team members explore what is possible now. This is a time where you as a leader can also reinforce the mindsets and culture of change for the team, so they learn to expect changes, i.e. psychological flexibility.
FranklinCovey’s Change Model can help you better navigate change as a leader as well as help your team members self-navigate through change and adversity.
Now, I am curious to hear your personal experiences with change and transition – Please share in the comments.
References.
[1]Imperial College London (2016) New insights into skin cells could explain why our skin doesn’t leak. Available at: Science Daily (sciencedaily.com). (Accessed 22 May 2023).
[2]Bridges, W. (1988) Bridges Transition Model. Bay Area: William Bridges Associates. Available at: Bridges Transition Model (wmbridges.com).(Accessed 20 April 2023).
[3]Feiler, B. (2010) Managing Someone Whose Life Has Been Upended, Harvard Business Review. Available at: Managing People (hbr.org). (Accessed 13 May 2023).
[4]Pedersen, M. (2023) Managing Change in an Organization. Available at: Monte Pedersen Linkedin (linkedin.com). (Accessed 29 April 2023).
[5]Barawy, R. B. (2019) Psychological Safety: what, why and how? Available at: Psychological Safety (implementconsultinggroup.com). (Accessed 20 March 2023).
[6]Morain, C. O. and Aykens, P. (2023) Employees Are Loosing Patience with Change Initiatives, Harvard Business Review. Available at: Organizational Change (hbr.org). (Accessed 12 May 2023).
[7]Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E. and McKee, A. (2001) Primal Leadership: The Hidden Driver of Great Performance, Harvard Business Review. Available at: Emotional Intelligence (hbr.org). Accessed 12 May 2023).
[8]Coates, P. (2021) How to Turn Uncertainty into Opportunity. Available at: FranklinCovey (franklincovey.co.uk). (Accessed 24 April 2023).
[9]Rinne, A. (2023) Change Management Requires a Change Mindset. Available at: Change Management (hbr.org). (Accessed 20 May 2023).