Life as I knew it changed about three years ago.
It was around then when my dad received the news that his cancer had returned after previously successful treatment. Worse, it had come back aggressively and had spread throughout his body in just a few short months. Factoring in other life and career situations, my wife and I found ourselves at a crossroads and decided to move in order to be with my parents in that critical moment. Within two months, we moved with our two children from a house in Illinois to an apartment in Minnesota — without jobs or certainty of what the future would bring. My father died one week later, the same week we unexpectedly found out that my wife was pregnant with our third child. It was a turbulent season of change.
The Neutral Zone
While most of the changes were sudden and final, the transition to the new landscape of our lives took time. This stage in between endings and new beginnings is what William Bridges calls “the neutral zone” (Managing Transitions, Da Capo Press, 2009). It is part of the process of transition that individuals and organizations go through when experiencing or implementing change.
The neutral zone is thus both a dangerous and an opportune place, and it is the very core of the transition process. It is the time when repatterning takes place…. It is the winter in which the roots begin to prepare themselves for spring’s renewal. It is the night during which we are disengaged from yesterday’s concerns and preparing for tomorrow’s. It is the chaos into which the old form dissolves and from which the new form emerges. It is the seedbed of the new beginnings that you seek (p. 9).
Everyone’s experience in the neutral zone is unique and varies in length. However, regardless of whether the nature of change is positive or negative, expected or unexpected, we all must wander through its mysterious terrain before being fully ready to enter into a new beginning. For individuals, the neutral zone fosters authenticity (if we let it) as the familiar is stripped away and we are left exposed as ourselves. For organizations, the neutral zone creates space for implemented changes to happen effectively (if managed well) as old ways are replaced by new. For individuals and organizations, this usually isn’t a comfortable experience.
My neutral zone experience cultivated a deeper appreciation for the role the neutral zone plays in personal formation and organization development. I learned that the experience cannot be rushed; it needs to be walked through slowly. Also, the purposes of the neutral zone are most fulfilled when travelled with a companion who can help process and manage the experience. My experience left me with stronger resolve to help other people and organizations through the neutral zone experience when facing change. My experience informs my work as a coach and consultant and is part of the imagery behind the name “Open Spaces”. I believe that open spaces (i.e. neutral zones) can empower people, organizations, and communities to flourish.
Steps in the Journey of Transition
Next: The Journey of Transition (Part 3): Flourishing in a New Beginning
It was around then when my dad received the news that his cancer had returned after previously successful treatment. Worse, it had come back aggressively and had spread throughout his body in just a few short months. Factoring in other life and career situations, my wife and I found ourselves at a crossroads and decided to move in order to be with my parents in that critical moment. Within two months, we moved with our two children from a house in Illinois to an apartment in Minnesota — without jobs or certainty of what the future would bring. My father died one week later, the same week we unexpectedly found out that my wife was pregnant with our third child. It was a turbulent season of change.
The Neutral Zone
While most of the changes were sudden and final, the transition to the new landscape of our lives took time. This stage in between endings and new beginnings is what William Bridges calls “the neutral zone” (Managing Transitions, Da Capo Press, 2009). It is part of the process of transition that individuals and organizations go through when experiencing or implementing change.
The neutral zone is thus both a dangerous and an opportune place, and it is the very core of the transition process. It is the time when repatterning takes place…. It is the winter in which the roots begin to prepare themselves for spring’s renewal. It is the night during which we are disengaged from yesterday’s concerns and preparing for tomorrow’s. It is the chaos into which the old form dissolves and from which the new form emerges. It is the seedbed of the new beginnings that you seek (p. 9).
Everyone’s experience in the neutral zone is unique and varies in length. However, regardless of whether the nature of change is positive or negative, expected or unexpected, we all must wander through its mysterious terrain before being fully ready to enter into a new beginning. For individuals, the neutral zone fosters authenticity (if we let it) as the familiar is stripped away and we are left exposed as ourselves. For organizations, the neutral zone creates space for implemented changes to happen effectively (if managed well) as old ways are replaced by new. For individuals and organizations, this usually isn’t a comfortable experience.
My neutral zone experience cultivated a deeper appreciation for the role the neutral zone plays in personal formation and organization development. I learned that the experience cannot be rushed; it needs to be walked through slowly. Also, the purposes of the neutral zone are most fulfilled when travelled with a companion who can help process and manage the experience. My experience left me with stronger resolve to help other people and organizations through the neutral zone experience when facing change. My experience informs my work as a coach and consultant and is part of the imagery behind the name “Open Spaces”. I believe that open spaces (i.e. neutral zones) can empower people, organizations, and communities to flourish.
Steps in the Journey of Transition
- Reflect on a personal experience that sent you wandering in the neutral zone for a while. How did you deal with it? Did you embrace it, try to ignore it, or limp through it? How did you feel while in it?
- What helped you move through the phase authentically? What would have helped you engage it in a more authentic way?
- What did you learn from your experience in the neutral zone that could help you empower others who are going through it (whether people or organizations)?
Next: The Journey of Transition (Part 3): Flourishing in a New Beginning
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