Between the ‘No Longer’ and the ‘Not Yet’

“Treating ourselves like appliances that can be unplugged and plugged in again at will or cars that stop and start with the twist of a key, we have forgotten the importance of fallow time and winter and rests in music. We have abandoned a whole system of dealing with the neutral zone through ritual, and we have tried to deal with personal change as though it were a matter of some kind of readjustment.” – William Bridges

In all transitions, between what’s ending and a new beginning, there is a space William Bridges dubbed the neutral zone in his study on the human and emotional impact of transitions. 

“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions,” notes Bridges.

Whether in our own lives or the lives of our organizations, transitions are inevitable. They can be expected, or they can catch us completely off guard. Regardless of how transitions arrive, and however uncomfortable they might be, they can offer us a profound opportunity for inner growth and development. However, this neutral zone can feel unmoored, or pathless, until something more firm begins to take shape.  

“Change is external. Transition is internal,” Bridges adds. “Transition is the natural process of disorientation and reorientation that marks the turning points in the path of growth…transitions are key times in the natural process of self-renewal.”

The Neutral Zone is the space between the ‘no longer’ and the ‘not yet.’

Whether you’ve transitioned out of one thing and immediately into another, or you’re in the in-between-things, the neutral zone is one way to think about the period of adjustment that we undergo. That space is not like the period that just ended; it’s a fresh edge of unfolding into a new norm at the many layers of the self.

The Neutral Zone doesn’t have a timeline and, in some instances, can’t be rushed. 

There is a difference between change and transition that I want to note.

Change is what we see happen externally. It is situational, evidenced by things like starting a new job, a policy change, a move from one city to another, etc. “Effective tomorrow, we will stop doing x and start doing y” — that’s change. 

Transition is what happens internally for people. It is emotional and psychological. While a change may happen overnight, transition is the longer process of coming to terms with what has changed. It works on our identities, our sense of self, and how we relate to what lies ahead.

There is typically a well-defined stop-and-start to practice, a policy, or a way of doing things within a change model. One thing ends, and something else begins. The Neutral Zone is the place between worlds when we’ve let go of the old, but aren’t quite settled into the new. This is the time when those internal shifts are underway.

This is where today’s podcast conversation starts out. I sat down with my colleague Ray Foote to talk about the neutral zone, what happens in between “what was” and the “what’s next.” We speak to experiences from our own lives and reflect on what we see in our work in organizations. 

Where are you in the neutral zone?

Perhaps you’ve just gotten a promotion, are considering leaving your job, or are retiring. Maybe something has just happened to you, like being laid off or fired. At home, your youngest is headed off to college, or you’ve just moved an aging parent from your childhood home into assisted living. If any of these situations apply, you can be pretty sure you’re either in or headed towards transition.

What’s stirring for you, internally? 

You may feel ungrounded or out of sorts, and at other times exhilarated and excited, as new parts of your identity are forming. A desire for clarity and stability or getting to a new normal might have you tempted to race forward or to expect others in transition to hit the ground running.

It’s not uncommon for grief to show up, and the wish to cling to how things were. But this interim time is best appreciated and experienced for the opportunity it is. By slowing down, allowing your heart to catch up to what the mind knows, and approaching this time with curiosity, the roots of a new identity will begin to take hold.

If you recognize yourself or perhaps your team as being in a neutral zone moment, in what ways can you make room for the discomfort and uncertainty of this time? What values and tools can you rely on to ride out the transition? What conversations might you need to have and with whom?