What is the Change Navigator™?

(an excerpt from the DLI Change Navigator Facilitation Guide © 2013, 2015 Discovery Learning International).

The Change Navigator is a change leadership tool comprised of an assessment and workbook that helps people to develop a deeper understanding of the predictable journey everyone goes through during times of significant change.

You can use the Change Navigator to:

• Facilitate a 2.5-hour workshop on change and transition
• Facilitate a change leadership training session by pairing it with the Change Style Indicator set of tools.
• Provide a change leadership learning module within a broader leadership development or change management program
• Coach managers through change they must lead.
• Facilitate a team development session for an intact team or project team.

Change and Transition

While change is an event, such as a death, birth, merger, reorganisation, new job, or downsizing, people’s response to change is more like a process. Reactions to change can range from anxiety, fear, anger and confusion to anticipation, excitement and curiosity. In essence, the psychological response to change is a process of transitioning that occurs over time. Typically, people do not change their attitudes, beliefs, feelings and allegiances overnight. Those attributes can change, but gradually. As William Bridges wrote in Managing Transitions: “It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions.”

The Change Navigator Model

The four stages of the Discovery Learning Transition Model, acknowledging, reacting, investigating and implementing, are normal and predictable and, in fact, can bring value to a change initiative. The Change Navigator describes and explains the feelings, attitudes and behaviours associated with change and describes actions people can take to improve their leadership of change.

While all people who go through change experience these four stages, the pace and intensity of the stages will vary from person to person. The stages are Summarised below and presented in more detail on the following pages.

Stage 1: Acknowledging

Acknowledging begins as soon as a change occurs or is announced. Acknowledging is primarily a thinking orientation that involves the process of becoming cognitively aware.

Denial is a common aspect of this stage. After learning of a change, especially one with negative or threatening implications, people may appear to lack awareness of the change and proceed as if they haven’t heard it or they greatly minimise its importance, that is, cognitive denial. Sometimes, people may acknowledge the change but show little or no emotion that is emotional denial.

Acknowledging is the process of integrating new information so that the change becomes part of our mental awareness and understanding. Brain research shows that when stressed, our brains have trouble moving information from short-term to long-term memory. For this reason information has to be communicated many times and in a variety of ways.

Stage 2: Reacting

Reacting begins after an individual gains cognitive and emotional awareness of a change. This stage typically includes strong feelings. People may actively attempt to retain or regain past policies, responsibilities and relationships.

Reacting is a natural and valuable part of any change process. There are tough questions that should be asked and answered at this stage: “How will this change make us better?” “What are the consequences of this change for…?” “What about the implications for completing critical tasks?”

Many change influencers and leaders would prefer to skip this stage. When these intense feelings are not accepted and dealt with as predictable and even valuable components of change, resistance emerges. When there is resistance, the Reacting stage can become the overriding focus of the transition process.

Stage 3: Investigating

When people move into the Investigating stage, they are making the transition from focusing on the past to focusing on the future. Generally, this will not be a clean or immediate transition. A gradual shift with back-and-forth movement between Reacting and Investigating is more typical.

As time passes, people direct more attention to new possibilities. As they accept change emotionally, they become more receptive to the future. A slight willingness to consider future opportunities can evolve into full-blown excitement and enthusiasm.

The Investigating stage can result in a mixture of feelings from curiosity and excitement to caution and concern about the unknown.

Stage 4: Implementing

In the transition’s Implementing stage, new options are examined and decisions made. People now are ready to begin the process of implementing new expectations and responsibilities.

During this stage people begin the process of learning and refining new skills. They settle into new routines and develop a level of comfort and familiarity with the new reality.

The transition from Investigating to Implementing marks the move from a more feeling orientation back to a more thinking orientation. Typically, less emotion will be visible as people adjust to the new reality.