Mapping change

The change curve, the curve representing our general reaction to organizational change, is a fundamental concept of change management. It starts with the original status quo turning into an emotional dip and then rising to the new status quo usually portrayed with a level of comfort that is higher than before the change. Unfortunately, this positive outcome is not guaranteed.

But there is a better visualization of the change process representing both the domain of possible outcomes and the rugged nature of the process itself. If you flip the change curve and look at change as a hill to climb instead of a dip, you can put the path representing the change process on a map of terrain.

Now, you can display the whole domain of outcomes from reaching the new status quo to getting trapped in a failed process to the disillusioned leaving the organization or those in denial staying with the original status quo. The southern path also shows the result of complacency when the change is implemented successfully but the effort needed to make it stick is ignored, and people drift back to their habitual modus operandi.