Quotes from William Bridges

Third Law of Organizational Development: in any significant transition, the thing that the organization needs to let go of is the very thing that got it this far. Discovering that law is painful, especially when you feel that you owe everything to the people, the culture, the style of management, or the strategy that "got you this far.

The second form of reinforcement is a particular kind of consistency: the consistency of your own actions. Regardless of the confusions surrounding a new beginning—and you're sure to have your own share—you have one reliable point of leverage in moving people out of the neutral zone: the example of your own behavior.

Such conflicts are reminders of the Fourth Law of Organizational Development: whenever there is a painful, troubled time in the organization, a developmental transition is probably going on.

What is the problem? What is the situation that requires this change to solve it? Who says so, and on what evidence? What would occur if no one acted to solve this problem? And what would happen to us if that occurred?

change and endings go hand in hand: change causes transition, and transition starts with an ending. If things change within an organization, at least some of the employees and managers are going to have to let go of something

This same kind of overreaction occurs when an ending is viewed as symbolic of some larger loss. The minor layoff in a company that has never had layoffs before is an example. It isn't the loss of the particular individuals—it's the loss of the safety people felt from the no-layoff policy.

Learn to look for the loss behind the loss and deal with that underlying issue. You'll get much further if you can show people that Loss A is really unrelated to the dreaded, larger Loss B than if you simply try to talk them out of their reaction to Loss A.

You need to bring losses out into the open—acknowledge them and express your concern for the affected people.

it is not talking about a loss but rather pretending that it doesn't exist that stirs up trouble.

When endings take place, people get angry, sad, frightened, depressed, and confused. These emotional states can be mistaken for bad morale, but they aren't. They are the signs of grieving, the natural sequence of emotions people go through when they lose something that matters to them.

As for the rest of the emotions grieving people feel, treat them seriously, but don't consider them as something you personally caused. Don't get defensive or argumentative.

The neutral zone takes a heavy toll on most people's self-confidence because it is a period of lowered productivity and diminished feelings of competence. It may also, if it resonates with past difficulties in a person's life, activate serious problems of low self-esteem. For that reason people are likely to need some fairly quick successes if they are to return to their former effectiveness.

Next, the organization must Recapture the Venture Spirit; that style was natural to the young and just-launched organization, but now it is locked away in the past.

Depression—feelings of being down, flat, dead; feelings of hopelessness; being tired all the time. Like sadness and anger, depression is hard to be around. You can't make it go away, however. People need to go through it, not around it.

Do whatever you can to restore people's sense of having some control over their situation.

It is important for leaders to comprehend the implications of what they are trying to achieve and not to let their understanding that renewal is essential blind them to the painful transitions that will be necessary to make things turn out as intended. It is also important for the HR and OD specialists who advise the leaders to recognize that transition management must be built into the very fabric of organizational renewal efforts.

Wise leaders, understanding that example is the most powerful tool they can employ, start with themselves: "What part of my identity—of the way I come across, and even the way I experience myself—do I need to let go of if we are going to enter the Path of Renewal?

Transitions are the dynamic interludes between one of the seven stages of organizational life and the next. Their function is to close out one phase, reorient and renew people in that time we are calling the neutral zone, and carry people into the new way of doing and being that is the beginning of the next stage.

The impatient leader is likely to want to Redream the Dream and Recapture the Venture Spirit and get the renewal-generating organizational infrastructure in place and working tomorrow!

transitions will need to make sense to people, for otherwise people will resist them and make it far harder for the organization to grow as it must.

What is called "innovation" usually represents a new Dream.

What is this new beginning going to require of us and of others in the organization? The sooner you start embodying the behaviors and attitudes that fit the new beginning, the sooner others in the organization will have the leader they need.

But remember: in your communications you need to speak to wherever people are now, not to where you want them to go, and they need your help, not in getting to the destination you want them ultimately to reach, but in taking the next step in the transition they find themselves in because of your big change.

Looking at each of these cases as simply "innovation" underestimates the challenge they faced. What innovation's champions are actually doing is creating a new organization, and to do that they must go back to the start of the life cycle. What we call "an innovation" is really a new Dream.