Framework library · Change management
Bridges transition model
William Bridges distinguished change, the external event, from transition, the inner process by which people come to terms with it. Transition starts with an ending, something people lose, passes through a neutral zone where the old way has gone and the new one is not yet working, and only then reaches a new beginning. Different groups are in different phases at the same time, so the support each needs is different too.
Use it when
- A change is on track technically but people are anxious, disengaged or quietly carrying on the old way.
- A merger, closure or reorganisation takes away something people valued: a brand, a team, a manager, a location, a status.
- Groups are reacting very differently to the same change and you need to see where each one is.
Avoid it when
- The question is whether people know how to do the new work and can do it. That is about knowledge and ability; use ADKAR.
- The change takes away nothing anyone values, such as a minor process fix. Where there is no ending, the model adds little.
- You need a plan for the leadership work of the change. Use Kotter's eight steps for that and this model for the people living through it.
How to run it
Split people by what they lose
Not by department. Store managers whose brand is being retired are in a different place from store managers whose brand survives, even with the same job title.
Name what each group is losing
Be specific: a brand, a manager, a way of working, status, a commute, certainty about the future. Losses nobody names come out later as resistance.
Place each group in a phase
Ending if they are still taking in the loss; neutral zone if the old way has gone and the new one is not settled; new beginning if they are working the new way and starting to identify with it.
Choose support that fits the phase
Endings: acknowledge the loss, mark it, keep what can be kept. Neutral zone: short-term goals, temporary procedures, more contact, room to suggest fixes. New beginning: what Bridges called the four Ps (the purpose, a picture of the result, the plan and each person's part in it).
Give each action an owner and a date
Usually the group's own manager, with the change team behind them. The register below counts the people in each phase.
Map the groups again each month
Groups move at different speeds, and some move back when a new loss appears.
Work through it
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Mistakes to avoid
- Starting with the new beginning. Selling the future before acknowledging what is lost reads as not listening.
- Leaders judging everyone's pace by their own. Executives have often known about the change for months and finished their ending; the front line may have heard last week.
- Treating the neutral zone only as a delay to shorten. It is uncomfortable, but people are also most open to new ideas there; ask for them.
- Grouping by department, which hides the group that is losing most.
Where it comes from
William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes (Addison-Wesley, 1980), applied to organisations in Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (Addison-Wesley, 1991). A 25th anniversary edition of Managing Transitions, revised with Susan Bridges, was published in 2017. Source.
The Bridges Transition Model is the work of William Bridges and William Bridges Associates. This page describes it independently and is not endorsed by William Bridges Associates.
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The frameworks here are free to use as they stand. If you would rather work through the question behind this one with us, these are the ways an engagement starts.