Skip to main content

COMPEL Glossary / bridges-transition-model

Bridges Transition Model

William Bridges' three-phase psychological transition model — Ending (letting go of the old), Neutral Zone (disorientation and exploration), New Beginning (adoption of the new).

What this means in practice

Complements ADKAR by framing transition as a psychological process rather than a sequence of information milestones; particularly relevant where AI replaces tasks people identified with.

Synonyms

Bridges three phases , ending-neutral-beginning model

See also

  • ADKAR — Prosci's five-stage individual change model — Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement — that describes the sequence through which a single person adopts a change.
  • Kotter 8 Steps — John Kotter's organizational-level change method with eight sequenced steps: create urgency, build a guiding coalition, form strategic vision, enlist volunteer army, enable action by removing barriers, generate short-term wins, sustain acceleration, institute change.
  • AI-specific resistance — Resistance patterns distinct to AI transformation — fear of role replacement, distrust of algorithmic opacity, prior adverse experience with automation, and legitimate ethical concern about bias or surveillance.
  • Transformation fatigue — The cumulative psychological toll of sustained change across multiple initiatives that reduces employees' receptivity to additional change.