The Transformative Change Model

Change management is a required capability for developing change competency.  To build change competency, you must equip all levels of your organization with the understanding, perspectives and tools to make change seamless and effortless.                                                                       

 Managing change means managing the conversation between the people leading the change and those who are expected to implement the new strategies.  It also means managing the organizational context in which change can occur. 

 Let’s take a look at change by examining the Transformative Change Model.

 Transformative change occurs on three levels:

1. Structure: the patterns of the organization (reporting lines, job definitions)
2. Behavior: the way the system acts (communication patterns and relationships)
3. Consciousness: the way things are viewed (attitudes, beliefs and myths)

The Seven Stages of The Transformative Change Model

1 Unconscious stage 

Organizational transition begins gradually with a period of organizational unconsciousness that builds a readiness for change. (random information, sporadic symptoms and tentative new ideas)

2 Awakening Stage

Developing awareness and surfacing symptoms form a message to all involved of needed change (instability introduced, status quo harmony is disrupted)

 3 Reordering stage

Probing process integrated the new catalyst with the existing situation (deeper level, new vision)

 4 Translation Stage

Process of integrating information, images and visions create new vision for the future of the organization.

 5 Commitment stage

Organization takes responsibility for implementation of the new vision.  (pivotal, old/new clashes, resistance resurfaces) Organization makes the decision to precede or rework previous steps.

 6 Embodiment stage

Leadership and employees work together to bring the transformed vision into day-to-day operations.  Integration of three elements: consciousness shifts (attitudes, beliefs and assumptions), structural changes (patterns of organization) and behavioral changes (actions, relationship, communications)

 7 Integration Stage

 As the desired change becomes widespread, the organization reaches a stage of integration.  Trust, cooperation and openness develop. Community is solidified and disorientation and chaos transformation are healed.

Change is a Constant Element

Since change is a constant element in a successful organization, the model’s cyclical forces are always in action. The timing and rhythm of the transformation is based on the entire system’s readiness to shift on each of these levels.  To move from the chaos of transformative change to peak performance, it is necessary to understand the complex process of transformation as it relates to organizational and individual needs.

Although a fully integrated transformative change requires movement though all seven stages, often a micro-cycle of the seven stages is encompassed in each stage.  Rhythm and timing are determined by the rate the change can be managed.  As organizations undergo major transformations necessary for survival and growth, individual employee lives are also transformed.  The success of an organizational change largely depends on the employees’ ability to integrate the changes.  The individual experiencing transformation in an organizational context will discover that a cycle of transformation begins in the Unconsciousness Stage.

 By Shirley J. Caruso, M. A., Human Resource Development