Change Models

Change Models
There are many change models, the most common one is the Kubler Ross transition (grief) cycle. Originally titled 'The 5 Stages of Receiving Catastrophic News' these stages are:

• 
  Denial
  
• 
  Anger
  
• 
  Bargaining
  
• 
  Depression
  
• 
  Acceptance
  

Based on the Grief Cycle model first published in On Death & Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 1969.

As an example, apply the 5 stages to a traumatic event most all of us have experienced:
Denial'>The Dead Battery!
You're going to be late to work so you rush out to your car, place the key in the ignition and turn it on. You hear nothing; the battery is dead.

Denial –


Anger –


Bargaining -


Depression -
Acceptance -

You're going to be late to work so you rush out to your car, place the key in the ignition and turn it on. You hear nothing; the battery is dead.

Denial - What's the first thing you do? You try to start it again! And again. You may check to make sure the radio, heater, lights, etc. are off and then..., try again.
Anger - !$%&*@~$! car!, I should have junked you years ago. Did you slam your hand on the steering wheel?
Bargaining - (realizing that you're going to be late for work)..., Oh please car, if you will just start one more time I promise I'll buy you a brand new battery, get a tune up, new tires, clean you, and keep you in perfect working condition.
Depression - Oh God, what am I going to do. I'm going to be late for work. I give up. My job is at risk and I don't really care any more. What's the use.

The Extended Grief Cycle

The Extended Grief Cycle can be shown as in the chart below, indicating the roller-coaster ride of activity and passivity as the person wriggles and turns in their desperate efforts to avoid the change.

 

 

The initial state before the cycle is received is stable, at least in terms of the subsequent reaction on hearing the bad news. Compared with the ups and downs to come, even if there is some variation, this is indeed a stable state.

And then, into the calm of this relative paradise, a bombshell bursts...

• 
  Shock stage*: Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news.
  
• 
  Denial stage: Trying to avoid the inevitable.
  
• 
  Anger stage: Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion.
  
• 
  Bargaining stage: Seeking in vain for a way out.
  
• 
  Depression stage: Final realization of the inevitable.
  
• 
  Testing stage*: Seeking realistic solutions.
  
• 
  Acceptance stage: Finally finding the way forward.
  

* This model is extended slightly from the original Kubler-Ross model, which does not explicitly include the Shock and Testing stages. These stages however are often useful to understand and facilitating change.

 

Apply the 5 stages to a traumatic event most all of us have experienced:
The Dead Battery!
You're going to be late to work so you rush out to your car, place the key in the ignition and turn it on. You hear nothing; the battery is dead.

Denial –


Anger –


Bargaining -


Depression -
Acceptance -

Apply the 5 stages to a traumatic event most all of us have experienced:

The Dead Battery!
You're going to be late to work so you rush out to your car, place the key in the ignition and turn it on. You hear nothing; the battery is dead.

Denial –


Anger –


Bargaining -


Depression -
Acceptance -