Readings in Resilience
Are You Ready to Change?
by Ron Breazeale, Ph.D.
Change is stressful even if the change is “good” for you, for your family, or your community. Change requires that you think and behave in a different fashion. But most of all it requires that you are ready to change. The concept of readiness for change is not a new one. James Prochaska and his colleagues in Rhode Island have been studying the change process for over 15 years. They initially looked at how people change certain health habits, such as smoking. They concluded that individuals who are involved in the change process progress through a series of five stages: 1) pre-contemplation, 2) contemplation, 3) preparation and decision, 4) action, and 5) maintenance.
In the first stage, Pre-contemplation, an individual is not thinking about making a charge. They may not be opposed to change but they may simply see no need to change. If a change is proposed, pre-contemplation may feel that the change is being imposed on them and may resist it. They usually do not see any major benefits to the proposed change and may feel that the present way of doing things works or if it doesn’t that there is no better alternative or option. Dr. Prochaska and his colleagues at Pro-change, an organization that focuses on helping organizations to implement new programs, estimate that in most organizations 40% of the employees may be at the pre-contemplation stage when a new program or project is proposed. They have also found when organizations actively involve pre-contemplation in the change process that the vast majority can participate in the process by sharing their concerns and can progress to the next stage, which is Contemplation.
In the second stage, Contemplation, the individual is taking a serious look at the pros and cons of change. They may see more clearly the benefits of change that the pre-contemplation, but they have not yet made a decision to change. To others they may appear ambivalent, confused, and perhaps viewed as resistant to change. These individuals are involved in the process of weighing the pros and the cons. Prochaska estimates that 40% of employees in an organization are often in the contemplation stage when the change process begins. If actively and appropriately involved, pre-contemplation can move to the next stage, referred to as the decision or preparation stage.
In the third stage, Preparation & Decision, a person makes a decision to change. They are no longer ambivalent about the change process but are ready to move ahead. Prochaska estimates that 10-20% of the employees of most organizations, at the beginning of a new program, are in the preparation stage. Unfortunately, if there is considerable resistance to the change process from their colleagues who are at the pre-contemplation or contemplation stage, these individuals who are ready to move ahead with the change process may become demoralized and question whether the program or the new initiative should be implemented. If supported, however, these individuals can serve as role models to other employees.
In the fourth stage, Action, an individual is in the process of implementing the new changes and making the new program work. As we have said earlier, most training programs are geared to individuals either at the preparation or at the action stage. The assumption is that individuals in the organizations have made a commitment to the change process and are simply looking for the tools to implement the new program or policy. Unfortunately, the minority of employees in most organizations are at this stage. This is the stage where individuals need specific information and tools for implementing the new initiative or program. When individuals are forced into the action stage by their organization, the product they create is often not a very positive one. Individuals who are not adequately prepared for change tend not to do well implementing a new program. Prochaska considers this the number one reason why organizations fail at change efforts. They are asking their employees to take action before they are prepared to do so. Making a change is hard enough even if one is prepared. It is difficult to implement new ways of behaving or thinking.
It’s easy to return to old habits and to lapse back into the earlier stages of the change process. The fifth and last stage of change, Maintenance, focuses on helping individuals to maintain the changes that they have made. The focus is on maintaining new patterns of behavior so that they eventually become automatic habit.