Organizational Transitions in a Quick-Fix World

“What in the world is transition and what does it have to do with our work?” The question came at the end of a non-profit membership meeting for a group I consulted that was beginning a search for a new leader. The questioner was ready to get on with the business at hand and didn’t want to be delayed.

Her question is a common one in a quick-fix world, where technology has led us all to expect an immediate turnaround in every situation. One would think some sort of quick fix would be available to organizations facing change. However, there are aspects of life in this quick-fix age that do not respond to the click of a button but are part of a process—a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end. The Transition Process offers steps to enable an organization to effectively move from one form of operation to another.

Transition is often confused with change—an external event that happens to all living organisms as they survive, adjust, and thrive in their environment. Transition is the internal, psychological process people go through on the way to coming to terms with a new situation. Transition is the bridge between that which has been and that which is coming. 

Generations ago, when we were an agrarian society, transition was a familiar experience learned through the planting, growth, and harvesting of crops. There was an all-important fallow time when the seeds were deep in the soil, being watered and nurtured until they were ready to bloom. No one would ever expect a plant to bloom immediately. Nor would anyone have taken hold of a tender sprout and pulled hard to see if its growth could be speeded up. 

Transition is not easy. If it were, we wouldn’t have questions about what it is, why we need it, and what to expect from it. Transition is a time dedicated to dealing with an organization’s past in preparation for the future. It’s the fallow time, when the seeds for new growth are being nurtured in preparation for sprouting, then blooming. Transition is the bridge between ending and beginning. How we respond as individuals and an organization to these reflections, and what we learn from the work, remains an unknown.

This article, and its accompanying stories in this issue of the American Suzuki Journal, are about the transition process—the theory and practice of organizational life moving from an operational ending through a neutral zone to a new operational beginning. Every transition brings with it developmental tasks, whether the stages of the process take place before a new leader is in place or overlap with the new administration. Transition Stage One begins with knowledge of impending change and lasts until new leadership steps into place. Transition Stage Two begins with new leadership and continues through acceptance, adaption, and adoption—to a new beginning.

I am often asked how long transition takes. Like most processes, no one answer fits every transition. There is, however, this truth: it takes as long as it takes. Transition can’t have a quick fix. Instead, it’s a time for reflection on the life of any organization. Let’s take a look at this three-pronged process and why each stage is important to the organization.

Ending and letting go

Transition begins with the ending of one way of organizational life. The end may come via a merger with another company, the unexpected illness or death of a leader, or the retirement of a leader and search for a new officer. However the ending comes, it’s normal to experience grief as a familiar work life gives way to an unknown. Escalating anxiety is also normal. Is my position secure? What if I can’t work effectively with a new person? What if they don’t appreciate my style—my contributions are discounted, and things I worked for my entire career are no longer valued? Established relational alliances will change. Even if the alliances were not satisfactory to everyone, they were familiar, and familiarity offers a level of comfort and security that unfamiliar ground does not. 

Endings make one particular question loom large: what will I have to give up that is important to me? In all situations of change, it is not the change itself that we grieve so much as the uncertainty about how individuals will need to change to accommodate the new. 

The discomfort of the unknowns of ending and letting go is quite profound. The impact will vary across a spectrum, from those who are unable to allow the possibility of positive outcomes to those who embrace the new with hope and enthusiasm. The emotions of grief, fear, anxiety, and even anger are often expressed through behaviors that both deny what is happening, resist the change, and at times attempt to sabotage the process. 

This stage of transition is painful for everyone involved and makes it very difficult to have what transition professionals refer to as a “good goodbye.” John Schneider, former director of the Center for Grief at Michigan State University and author of the book Finding My Way: Healing and Transformation (2012), says that there are three key grief questions. Each of them is important to the resolution of grief and the ability to move forward. The positioning of the questions on the page is intentional and tells a grieving person that taking the time and effort to identify the different aspects of their grief, and differing emotions about each aspect is critical to answering questions two and three.

Schneider Grief Model

Take your time identifying the many losses you are feeling, no matter how small or large, and give yourself permission to describe your feeling about each.

  • I am grieving the loss of ___. I feel ___ about this loss.
  • What do I have left
  • What am I going to choose to do with what I have left?

The work of letting go is essential to entering the stage known as the Neutral Zone, which provides the opportunity to focus on the tasks of the organizational transition. The following charts offer a guide for the work, as well as a measure for resolution. Awareness of the tasks, focus, purpose, and measures of resolution and non-resolution provide a helpful guide for leadership, who may use this information in transition communication with the membership to assist everyone in understanding what they are experiencing and goals for moving forward.

Developmental tasks in transitioning organizations

– Coming to Terms With Organizational History

Focus:

  • Putting history and past tenures in perspective.
  • Honoring and appreciating what has been good.
  • Appropriate venting, grieving, accepting, and moving on.

Suggestions:

  • Tell the organization’s story in a timeline. Update its written history.
  • Identify and celebrate watershed significant moments and accomplishments in the organization’s life.
  • List strengths and weaknesses of previous leadership.
  • Review covenants or statements that bind members together.
  • Maintain healthy traditions while examining those which seem out of touch with the group today.

B.Seeking/ discovering current identity

Focus:

  • What does the membership believe a professional nonprofit organization is/ does?
  • Is this transition time seen as an opportunity for growth and adventure?
  • Does the membership separate its identity from past leadership?

Suggestions:

  • Conduct self-study for accurate information.
  • Consider professional consultant guidance.
  • Hold cottage meetings to discuss what the organization wants to become.
  • Develop a list of goals and challenges emerging from above.

C. Managing and facilitating shifts in leadership

Focus:

  • Exhibiting power and control of directions and decisions.
  • Making healthy and realistic decisions.
  • Managing conflicts.
  • Honoring past leadership. Handling burnout, drop-out, and continuing development of leaders.

Suggestions:

  • Assess and recruit leadership necessary to meet goals.
  • Affirm leaders’ different styles and talents. Train and refresh for common leadership language and methodology.
  • Teach family systems behavior-focused understanding, behavior, and impact.
  • Re-think the process of developing leadership, terms in office, and position descriptions.
  • Recognize and celebrate leaders stepping down.
  • Determine whether processes are congruent with governance.
  • Be open to all members, seek input, and share information as frequently and in as many ways as possible.

D. Commitment to new ideas and possibilities

Focus:

  • Wide ownership and excitement about shared vision for the future.
  • Clear and shared expectations between leadership and membership.
  • Good closure from previous leadership.

Suggestions:

  • Interim leadership sharing insights with new leadership.
  • Transition rituals and processes in place.
  • Clear and frequent communication with membership.
  • Opportunities for connection with new leadership.

Reaching acceptance, adaptation, and adoption

Perhaps the experience of the pandemic can help us understand the difference between adaptation, acceptance, and adoption. I often hear individuals say “when things get back to normal” as if we will go back to the old way. Adaptation is the act of acquiescing to the demands of the situation. Think of this like wearing masks while retaining the belief that the “new way” is only for a short time and that things will soon return to the old and familiar. Acceptance is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation. Adoption is achieved when the new situation becomes the normal one and the efforts to go back to the way things were cease. 

The Curve of Organizational Transition developed by Therese Lenk Meadowlark Consulting Group in San Jose, California offers a visual underscoring of the transition journey, reminding us that transition is a process that takes time and energy and offers a future of creative possibilities and hope. 

[img=https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HhrYgQlqpgbryZ7QHOH32zHDCg-JmvlPFRB9HDQjB9joQIAEsPHGodvCgzBFxr0XCybS8RZebtKgm5RzRPicFddmTG8g9E1ue3boT-72cX9UwK_xc5ErUTKL6294IuKeujB2VQSzHc1T7-jtQA]

[size=100]Used with permission Therese Lenk Meadowlark Consulting Group, San Jose, California.[/size]

Transitioning is work that invites and encourages the participation of all stakeholders. When embraced and utilized, the process will offer a resource in the organizational toolbox for future transitional guidance. As organizational scholar Warren Bennis says, “In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital.” Transition is the bridge between the history that has been lived and the possibilities of the future.

“Come, let us build bridges of love with each other, with the cement of kindness and pillars of trust.” —Debasish Mridha

References

Nicholson, Roger S. Temporary Shepherds: A Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry. Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute, 1998. 

Schneider, John M. Finding My Way: From Trauma to Transformation: The Journey through Loss and Grief. Traverse City, MI: Seasons Press, 2012.