TRANSITIONS: Managing Change Disruptions


 

Page 391 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 41, 2014 

TRANSITIONS: 

MANAGING CHANGE DISRUPTIONS 
 

Pat Hendrickson  

Central Piedmont Community College,  

pat.hendrickson@cpcc.edu 

 

Diann Back 

Central Piedmont Community College 

diann.back@cpcc.edu 

ABSTRACT 

 

Transitions is designed to help people understand that 

change is always disruptive, upsets the status quo, and 

frequently results in new and innovative approaches to 

problem solving. Based on Bridge’s three phases model for 

managing transitions, the simulation is designed to help 

participants conceptualize disruptions in anticipated 

schedules, emotions experienced by participants as a result 

of change, and the perceived need to adapt instantly to new 

paradigms  

In teams, participants create initial structures with small 

blocks. Participants play assigned roles with associated 

responsibilities as their structure is “built.” The teams are 

then mandated to make changes in their structures 

according to federal, state, and local guidelines. By adding 

blocks or removing blocks, new trials emerge. Challenged 

to look for creative solutions, participants navigate through 

a series of ordered changes including budget cuts, 

accrediting issues, and the need for student accessibility to 

learning resources. 

Throughout the three-phase simulation, participants have 

the opportunity to debrief with their teammates. At the 

conclusion, the teams debrief one more time in their small 

groups. Finally, the teams come together for a debrief 

conducted by the facilitators. The final formal large-group 

facilitated debrief serves as an opportunity to reflect on the 

activities, making it meaningful by identifying what was 

learned on both an individual and organizational level. 

 

TARGET AUDIENCE 

 
The target audience is any organization that finds itself 

in a transition period between the initiation of change and 

its successful implementation. Currently, it is customized 

for community colleges, colleges, and universities. 

However, it can easily be tailored to community service 

agencies, faith-based organizations, K-12 schools, and even 

businesses. 

RATIONALE 

 
A number of experts in organizational change note that 

the pressure for organizations to change is increasing daily. 

Harvard Business School professor John P. Kotter in his 

book entitled Leading Change remarks, “Powerful 

macroeconimic forces are at work here, and these forces 

may grow even stronger over the next few decades. As a 

result more and more organizations will be pushed to 

reduce costs, improve the quality of products and services, 

locate new opportunities for growth, and increase 

productivity.” (p. 3). Higher education is no exception. 

Jeffery J. Selingo, Editor at Large, Chronicle of Higher 

Education, in his book entitled College Unbound: The 

Future of Higher Education and What It Means for 

Students reports, “Talk of a coming disruption to the 

traditional college model has reached fever pitch in some 

corners of higher education—each day seems to bring news 

of innovations with the potential to transform how we get a 

college degree….” (p. xii). Transitions is designed to help 

college leaders understand on a conceptual basis the issues 

involved in implementing change—human, financial, and 

physical.  

“The value of simulations is underpinned by learning 

theories such as social constructivism, which considers 

each learner an individual with unique needs. According to 

social constructivists, learners are complex and 

multidimensional. Social constructivists argue that learners 

must be actively involved in the learning process and 

believe that knowledge must first be constructed in a social 

context and before being appropriated by 

individuals” (Beckem & Watkins, 2012). TRANSITIONS 

allows college leaders to be immersed in a non-threatening, 

yet realistic learning experience.   

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