Virginia Satir, a family therapist, developed her model (Satir et al, 1991) after observing individuals and families experience a wide range of changes. Her model not only has a number of stages but also highlights two key events that disturb or move an individual’s experience along: the foreign element and the transforming idea ).
She describes the initial state as one of maintaining the status quo. We have all experienced periods within our lives – at home or at work – where day to day events continue today as they have done in previous days, and no doubt will be the same tomorrow. It may be that the organization you are working in is in a mature industry with well established working practices which need little or no alteration. This is a state in which if you carry on doing what you are doing, you will continue to get what you are getting. The situation is one of relative equilibrium where all parts of the system are in relative harmony. That is not to say, of course, that there is no dissatisfaction. It is just that no one is effecting change.
This changes when something new enters the system. Satir calls it a ‘foreign element’ in the sense that a factor previously not present is introduced. As with the examples from the two previous models it might be the onset of an illness, or in the world of work, a new chief executive with ideas about restructuring. Whatever the nature of this foreign element, it has an effect.
A period of chaos ensues. Typically this is internal chaos. The world itself may continue to function but the individual’s own perceived world might be turned upside down, or inside out. He or she may be in a state of disbelief – denial or emotional numbness – at first, not knowing what to think or feel or how to act. Individuals may resist the notion that things are going to be different. Indeed they may actually try to redouble their efforts to ensure that the status quo continues as long as possible, even to the extent of sabotaging the new ideas that are forthcoming. Their support networks, which before had seemed so solid, might now not be trusted to help and support the individual. They may not know who to trust or where to go for help.
During this period of chaos, we see elements of anger and disorganization permeating the individual’s world. Feelings of dread, panic and despair are followed by periods of apathy and a sense of pointlessness. At moments like this it may well seem like St John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul (2003) when all hope has vanished.
But it is often when things have reached their very worst that from somewhere – usually from within the very depths of the person – the germ of an idea or an insight occurs. In terms of the Kubler-Ross model the individual is coming to terms with the reality of the situation and experiencing acknowledgement and acceptance. He or she has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of hope. An immense amount of work may still need to be done, but the individual has generated this transforming idea, which spreads some light on to the situation, and perhaps shows him or her a way out of the predicament.
Once this transforming idea has taken root, the individual can begin the journey of integration. Thus this period of integration requires the new world order to be assimilated into the individual’s own world.
Imagine a restructuring has taken place at your place of work. You have gone through many a sleepless night worrying what job you may end up in, or whether you will have a role at the end of the change. The jobs on offer do not appeal at all to you at first (‘Why didn’t they ask me for my views when they formulated the new roles?’ ‘If they think I’m applying for that they have another think coming!’). However as the chief executive’s thinking is made clearer through better communications, you grudgingly accept that perhaps he did have a point in addressing the complacency within the firm. Then perhaps one day you wake up and feel that maybe you might just have a look at that job description for the job in Operations. You have never worked in that area before and you have heard a few good things about the woman in charge.
You begin to accept the idea of a new role and ‘try it on for size’. Perhaps at first you are just playing along, but soon it becomes more experimentation and more of an exploration. As time moves on the restructure is bedded into the organization, roles and responsibilities clarified, new objectives and ways of working specified and results achieved. A new status quo is born. The scars are still there perhaps but they are not hurting so much.
Gerald Weinberg (1997), in his masterly article on change, but with a title that might not appeal to everyone (Quality Software Management, Volume 4: Anticipating Change) draws heavily on the Satir model and maps on to it the critical points that can under-mine or support the change process. Weinberg shows that if the change is not planned well enough, or if the receivers of change consciously or unconsciously decide to resist, the change effort will falter.