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In my previous blog, I addressed the notion that, unlike things or events, people don’t change at a point in time. Rather they transition, over time.
In this blog, I want to take a peek into the ‘science’, if you will, behind what happens when people go through a transition.
(NOTE: What follows is some background in human nature and behaviour, and how people transition when faced with a change. While some of you will respond well to this insight, and even feel you need to know this before you can embrace your life-change, others of you might find it merely interesting. The details are not necessarily essential for you to fully absorb as you navigate through a life-change.)
As we have discussed, a life-change can be one we’ve longed for (such as a child on the way or a move to a new city) or it can be one that has been imposed upon us (such as an involuntary job change or job loss).
But regardless of whether the change is sought or imposed, we all go through – and need to go through – certain transition phases. We’ll spend the rest of this blog taking a closer look at these five phases.
Researchers have identified five stages or phases that we all pass through as we are confronted with, absorb, accept and ultimately move forward with change. These phases, as codified by the Prosci organisation, are:
Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.
Prosci has summarized these phases in a handy acronym: ADKAR®.
Here’s a quick look at what each phase comprises:
It’s important to note that not only do people need to go through each of these phases if they want to successfully navigate through a life-change, but that they do so in sequence. (More about that in a real-life example in my next blog.)
Let’s expand on the definition of each of these phases a bit…
Awareness: Change is hard. Change is a big deal. Even the most sought-after life-change causes us to move out of our comfort zone, at least to some degree. And for changes that are imposed upon us, the challenge is even greater.
We cannot begin to successfully achieve a life-change if we do not have full Awareness or understanding of all that the change entails: What exactly comprises the change? Why is the change necessary? What are the risks of not changing?
Desire: Once we are satisfied that we know all we need to know about the nature of the change, we concern ourselves with our Desire to change. For changes that we want and have longed for, Desire is quite often ‘built-in’. But for changes that are imposed upon us, the Desire phase is a bit trickier.
Understanding the need for a change and wanting the change are not the same thing! The key to building Desire for a change is instilling a full appreciation of the WIIFM; that is, What’s In It For Me. Whether you are supporting another person through a change or you yourself are working through a change, finding and building on the WIIFM is key.
Knowledge: This may be the most ‘obvious’ phase of the five, but not always! Once you are fully Aware of the change and have been able to build Desire for the change, you actually need to know how to achieve the change.
Let’s say your role at work is changing. You may understand why it’s changing, you may know that it’s better for you and you may even be excited to get on with it, but if you don’t know how to do the new job, you will not be successful!
Ability: A natural follow-on to Knowledge is Ability. But this one’s a bit subtle. Even though you may have acquired the Knowledge to successfully navigate or implement a change, you need the Ability to do so.
Have you been able to test your Knowledge; that is, to practice in reality what you’ve learned in theory? Do you have the capacity (time; talent; physical, emotional and mental attributes; etc.) to implement what you’ve learned? As we can all agree, watching ten webinars on how to ride a bike is not the same as having the Ability to put your Knowledge into practice. (Do you have a bike? Do you have the space to ride a bike? Do you have time to ride a bike? Are you physically capable of riding a bike?)
Reinforcement: This phase is often overlooked. But do so at your peril! Reinforcing the change after it has occurred is critical. But because it primarily takes place following the change, it tends to be neglected or forgotten in the glow of having successfully achieved the change.
Reinforcement is having and following a plan to keep on with new way and not revert to the old. It’s building and shoring up new habits. It may involve incentives to stay on-track or even disincentives (‘punishments’) to keep off the old track. If you want to change your health and have a goal to lose 20 pounds, it’s important that part of your plan is how to keep that 20 pounds off once you’ve lost it.
So that’s it! The five key phases people go through when navigating a change. In my next blog, we’ll take another look at these phases, this time in the context of a real-life experience so that they’ll begin to have more meaning for you, and you’ll begin to see how you can apply them to your own life and life-changes.
Until next time…
David
ADKAR and the ADKAR methodology are registered trademarks of Prosci Inc.