Lean Change Management: Innovative practices for managing organizational change

by Jason Little

The stages of the Satir Change Model: Virginia Satir Change Model by Steven M. Smith. Stage 1 – Late Status Quo: Everything is familiar and comfortable, and performance is stable. Stage 2 – Foreign Element: This stage is about resistance. In my view, Agile is a powerful Foreign Element that generates a strong response from people. Some love it, others resist it. Stage 3 – Chaos: People feel that they’re losing their identity and experience a general sense of loss, which leads to a drop in productivity and an increase in confusion or anger. Stage 4 – The Transforming Idea, Practice and Integration: Once people have tumbled through Chaos, they reach the point where they get it. They hit The Transforming Idea. The Transforming Idea leads into Practice and Integration. Here, people integrate the benefits of the Foreign Element into their new identity. Stage 5 – New Status Quo: Performance starts to stabilize at a higher level than it was during the Late Status Quo.