5.3 The Change Curve

The change curve, derived from Kübler-Ross's work on responses to bereavement, describes the emotions people experience in various ways during any type of change in their lives. CM3 examines both the stages and the recommended leader response at each — questions frequently give you a quoted phrase and ask which stage it indicates.

The stages

Shock and denial

After the initial shock of being confronted with a change, people often resist engaging with it, as if trying to prove the change is either unreal or unnecessary. This denial phase can provide a burst of additional, defensive energy which temporarily increases both performance and mood — a counterintuitive point worth remembering, because an early spike in performance after an announcement is not evidence of successful adoption.

Leader response:

• Once change is announced, be aware of signs that people are not taking it fully seriously
• Demonstrate both empathy and firmness of resolve
• The shock element is minimised by effective and early communication
• Involve people in the planning process

Anger and blame

If the change is real and will continue, people can no longer avoid engaging with it, and denial gives way to anger or blame. The idea that "it's not fair!" may take hold. Blame attaches to "the management", "the market", "the people in suits" — always they.

Leader response:

• This is a time for empathy; help people work through the personal impacts
• Do not minimise the losses people will experience; they need to know that the cost of the change to them personally has truly been understood

Bargaining and self-blame

As mood and performance decline further, blame may turn towards the self and elements of bargaining emerge. Facing bereavement, people try to do deals to preserve a life; faced with imminent redundancy, people may take on additional work to delay or avert the threat.

Leader response:

• Personal support and empathy remain important; an effective response from line management is needed
• Offer opportunities to contribute to planning how changes are implemented
• Good active listening can be a powerful tool to help people process the consequences

Depression and confusion

Up to this point the process has been characterised by a drive to hold on to, or revert to, the past. The realisation that all such efforts are failing leaves people at their lowest point of performance, energy and morale. Confusion, sadness, even depression characterise this period.

Leader response:

• Use good active listening
• Show empathy
• Put in place good support structures for people to call on

Acceptance and problem solving

Here the person genuinely accepts that change is happening and resolves to address this new future. For significant changes a person may not reach this point quickly — and no real future-oriented behaviour will begin until there is true acceptance of what has changed. They can then try new approaches, make new discoveries and integrate them into their new way of being. Problem-solving behaviour follows.

Leader response:

• Provide try it and see learning opportunities
• Signpost and encourage next steps

Practical observations for leading and managing change

CM3 lists five observations that are as examinable as the stages themselves:

1. People sometimes get stuck in one stage, or oscillate between two — often around blame
2. The length and depth vary considerably — from a brief and minor wobble to a major roller-coaster lasting months
3. The change curve is a function of time. Some apparent resistance simply reflects a difference between the position of those announcing a change and those receiving it
4. People are expressing their own process of adjustment — do not take anger and blame personally
5. The pattern holds for positive changes too, not only unwelcome ones

The third observation is the most practically valuable insight in this section. The executive team announcing a change has typically been working on it for nine months and has travelled the entire curve privately. The staff hearing it are at hour zero. What the executive experiences as unreasonable resistance is often just the time lag — and the corrective is not more persuasion but patience and appropriately timed communication.

That connects directly to the guidance on hearts and minds, where leaders in their enthusiasm often try to sell the ideas of change too soon, causing more resistance and anxiety rather than less.

The process is not linear

CM3 is explicit that this process is not linear. The stages describe normal human responses to change and should be respected as such — not treated as a checklist to be driven through, and not treated as evidence of a problem with the individual.