The Seven Stages of change
Stage 7: RENEW
Sustaining and Improving on the Change in the Next Cycle
The process of change is ongoing. It does not end discretely with a single project or a single cycle of activity such as we have outlined in the preceding stages. In this final chapter, the planned change cycle is inserted in the larger context of an on-going change strategy, both for the change agent and for the client system.
Repeat. At the most basic level, there is the possibility of repeating the process, recycling through these same stages with another selected concern or perhaps the same concern now seen in a different light. But now things should be different: the agent, the users, and the client system as a whole should be a little wiser, having come to understand something more of what the change process is all about.
Freeze. (Lewin’s third step). What can be done now to codify and internalize this learning so that change can become a continuing thing, a process that is thoroughly internal to the system as a whole? This is the essence of what we mean here by “Renewal.”
RENEW Sub-Stages: Eight Sub-Stages for the Change Agent to Consider
- 7.1 Repeating the Cycle
- 7.2 Improving the Process
- 7.3 Keeping the Change Fresh
- 7.4 Creating a Self-Renewal Capacity
- 7.5 Passing On the Process
- 7.6 Transforming the System I: From Item Change to System Change
- 7.7 Transforming the System II: What is "Better"?
- 7.8 Terminating and Moving On
Review the full chapter for Stage 7 in The Guide for in depth guidance for each RENEW sub-stage.
What the Change Agent Needs to Know Most in the RENEW Stage
A successful change is a change that lasts in some form beyond its first cycle. Thus, a minimum requirement for renewal just means doing it again in the same place and under the same circumstances as in the original effort. However, a change agent who is good at renewal sees to it that the change is sustained and built upon, possibly spreading to other sites and circumstances. Even beyond the substance of the particular changer, the Renewal change agent should be working to improve how the system responds to and engages in the change process, itself. Is it possible to instill a positive problem-solving capacity within the system?
When all is said and done, and you as the change agent sense that genuine renewal has taken place following all the work that has been done so far in system building and problem solving, it may be time to move on. Then, as you move on to other projects, you can take along what you learned with this particular experience and apply it to further work with others
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