The Positive Change Cycle

“To Improve is to Change , to be Perfect is to Change Often ” ~ Winston Churchill

Just as there is a negative cycle of emotions experienced when the change is not to the liking of the person in question, so also is there a positive cycle. Not all people experience change as a bad thing: some will benefit from the change, whilst others just find the change in itself intriguing and exciting.

Uninformed Optimism | Honeymoon Period

Informed Pessimism | The Valley of Doubt

Informed Optimism | Finding the Why

Completion | The Peak of Success

Uninformed Optimism

In the first stage of positive change, the person is excited and intrigued by the change. They look forward to it with eager anticipation, building a very positive and often over-optimistic view, for example, that it will be much easier for them and resolve all of their current issues.

And for a time after the change (sometimes sadly short), there is a ‘Honeymoon Period’, during which they are positively happy with the change.

Informed Pessimism

The honeymoon period does not last forever and the rose-tinted glasses start to fade as the untidiness of reality starts to bite. The person finds that things have not all fallen into place, that other people have not magically become as cooperative as they expected, and that things are just not as easy as they had expected.

This pushes them over into a period of gloom when they realize that perfection, after all, is not that easy to attain. This may evidence itself in mutterings and grumblings but still does not reach the depths of the depression stage of negative change perception (unless the person flips into a delayed negative cycle).

Informed Optimism

Before long, however, their original optimism starts to reassert itself, now tinted by a resignation to the reality of the situation. After all, things are not that bad, and a positive sense of potential begins to creep back.

As they look around them and talk to other people, they make realistic plans and move forward with an informed sense of optimism.

Completion

Eventually, things reach a relatively steady platform of realistic and workable action. The person is probably happier than they were before the change started and, with their realistic vision, have the potential to reach giddier heights of happiness as they achieve more of their potential.

Change is a funny thing; we all go through a change on a daily basis from the time we wake up, right through to the time we head back to bed. It could be a small change like changing the cereal we have for breakfast or the journey we take to work; right through to big lifestyle changes like moving house, changing jobs, becoming a parent etc.,

As individuals, we adjust and change all the time based on the situation and the relationship we are in. Most people are at least slightly different based on the situation and circumstance they find themselves in e.g., as a parent, a husband or wife, a colleague, a manager/leader – I’m not talking about being a polar opposite of you, but we adjust and change based on the circumstance and situation we are in and act accordingly. We choose to change in these situations and understand the requirement to change and value this. Yet sometimes it can feel like we have to change as a consequence of decisions or actions taken by others; making us feel like change is out of our control and making us uncomfortable.

There will be times in our lives when we fear the change, change can make us feel vulnerable or anxious, this is especially true when it feels like we have little control or influence over what is about to happen. It is important to remember that you’re not alone in this journey; everyone experiences change and goes through the emotional cycle of change.

Below is a typical change curve that provides an illustration of different stages during times of change. People move through the stages at different speeds and can go through the cycle a number of times during change.

What is important is how we manage and maintain a positive attitude and the support we have during the time of change. Often leaders of organizational change and need to appreciate and support employees through this time. It is often small but important steps that help to alleviate the stress:

1.      Openness and Honesty – be as honest as possible about the circumstance and provide the reason for the change

2.      Leadership Alignment and Consistency – be consistent in the reason for the change

3.      Open Approach – a flow of two-way communication – allow for questions, not just an information flow

4.      Valuable and Timely Communications – ensure communication is planned and delivered to the right people, don’t let the rumor mill start, often this causes more stress – here you need to go back to the first step of openness and honesty.

Often it isn’t the change that fails but the way it is managed. In 2014 where the only constant seems to be changed, do you think Winston Churchill was right … “To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often”?

Awareness – Awareness is a very important building block that helps one understand why change is important and needed.

Desire – The desire to be a part of the change and support it is another vital ingredient.

Knowledge – The desire is incomplete without knowing how change can be brought about.

Ability – Even on having the desire to change and the knowledge to bring about this change, things can go in vain if the individual does not have the ability to grow with it.

Reinforcement – This building block is important to sustain the change.

Kotter's 8 Steps Process For Leading Change: Identifying Important Elements to Successful Organizational Change

Who you become in the end is far more important than what you accomplish. But what you accomplish is because of what you become.

1.   Create: The first step is to establish a feeling of urgency or hurriedness towards change.

2.   Build: The second step is to formulate a guiding coalition.

3.   Form: Now, the next step towards change involves developing a strategy to bring about change. This requires having a plan and a vision.

4.   Enlist: One must now communicate or put forth the vision or strategy for change.

5.   Enable: One must now empower the employees for taking action to incorporate the changes.

6.   Generate: Formulating and generating short-term goals and achieving them

7.   Sustain: Capitalization of wins or gains in order to produce bigger results.

8.   Institute: Incorporating new and better changes in the workplace culture.