As a result of our study of the literature and of effective transformations made by others and our attempt over the past year to apply what we learned to our own change project, we have learned some worthwhile lessons. We have learned that educators will fear change less if we focus first on what we want to preserve. By articulating our core values and our core purpose, as well as acknowledging that these are enduring aspects of the college, change becomes less frightening since it represents an effort to better serve that which we hold most dear. Change and transition are two different things. Both are uncomfortable.
Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation.
Change is external, transition is internal. If we do not prepare ourselves for the internal transition that accompanies change, starting with every individual, faculty, staff, and administrator, efforts to change are likely to fail. The discomfort that accompanies any change is great because, as Bridges tells us, transition begins with letting go of something. After letting go, we enter a neutral zone in which we have lost the comfortable old ways and not yet become comfortable with the new. The neutral zone is full of danger and also full of opportunity.