Transitions

I have just finished reading a Jungian perspective of the passage into midlife ("In Midlife" by Murray Stein). It describes the psychological journey of this particular type of transition as falling into three phases: separation, liminality, and re-integration.

The term 'liminality' comes from the Latin limen, meaning 'threshold' or 'doorway' and in psychologial theory refers to a state where identity is hung in suspension.

At the same time, I happened to be discussing organisations involved in mergers - a specific type of change and development in an organisation. I was struck by the resonances of the description of this process - not just what is happening externally (the organisational change, a merger) but also in the internal individual process of people in those organisations during a period of transition.

Mergers have a reasonably defined life cycle - from initial explorations (perhaps taking place 'off stage' in early days) to the coming into being of the new entity, formalised in legal terms with new systems and structures in place.

The whole process is a period of upheaval. Exisiting structures and boundaries will be taken down, formed/built into new 'shapes' (teams and departments) and a new identity established. It can involve great anxiety for staff caught up in the process (for most staff, the change is not within their control), letting go of what is known, uncertain about what is ahead, and not yet having a secure attachment and relationship to the new. A merger also involves a challenge to maintain 'business', bringing staff, customers and the public through this process of dismembering and construction.

At the same time, there is a life cycle of the personal processes involved - these depend on what role a person plays in the organisation - whether they are an instigator of the idea and involved in the early discussions, or whether they are further down in the hierarchical structure and enter the process at a later stage. For an individual, the organisation they know is now changing around them, bringing anxiety with an unknown future and identity.

Leaders and managers have a key role in guiding and supporting staff in the process (having a specific role/task to manage others through the change can mean their individual process through the change may move much quicker). They guide and support their staff in letting go of the old identity, structures, roles, relationships, and systems and moving to new ones (reintegration). Mergers can be seen as a reflection of (and containing elements of) the liminality that Stein describes in this particular life stage.