Managing Transitions Well: Four Principles From the Green Bay Packers
Dr. David Rafeedie
Last year the Green Bay Packers fired their long-time head coach, Mike McCarthy. It turns out both worked through the transition well. Mike has a new job with the Dallas Cowboys, and the Packers went 13-3 this season, won their division, and earned the number two seed in the playoffs and made it to NFC championship game after two losing seasons in a row. Go Pack Go!
But the transition, at least for the Packers, was not smooth. There was and is a lot of stress involved. I am not privy to how any individual Packer thinks, but the offense has struggled to transition into the new scheme. The Packer offense is not the offense of old, and the team often relies on their defense to win the game. What a change!
The stress at times has shown itself on the face of the players during a game. Television catches everything, and it is easy to see on the countenance of the players how things are going.
But based on the results of the regular season, the Packers have managed the transition to the new coaching staff and a new offensive scheme well. They are not through it completely; the offense is still streaky. It looks like a juggernaut at times, and it sputters to a halt at other times. However, they ended up the number two seed in the conference.
Stress is automatic with any transition, even if one likes change. The way the Packer team handled the transition mentioned above gives us a couple of good principles to keep in mind when dealing with transition and the stress that comes with any transition.
Principle number one: Own what is yours to own and don’t own what is not yours to own
The Packers players owned their part—they play the game. But they didn’t choose the coaches, and they didn’t choose the new offensive scheme. In every transition, some things are not in your control. Those are things you may be able to manage to some degree, but you have no control to eliminate them, change them, or even avoid them.
If you try and control what is not yours to control, you are in for frustration at best, breakdown at worse. Accept your circumstances because they are your circumstances, whether you like them or you don’t. Accept reality. Manage what you can and realize some things are beyond your control.
Principle number two: Lean in on your relationships
The Packers often said during the season, especially the defense, how close they were as a team. They leaned on each other and rejoiced together in the wins and worked together to improve after the defeats.
Relationships are a critical part of working through transitions. Sometimes we need space, but isolation is always a mistake. Human beings are made for community, designed for relationships.
In John Donne’s Devotions, he wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.” Today we say, “No one is an island.” No one is completely self-sufficient. Those of us that are more so than others realize during a major transition, relationships are critical to helping us manage through them well.
Principle number three: Don’t just sit there looking back!
Some of the Packers may have looked back and wished for old times. But that would not have been beneficial for the team to spend time doing. Instead, they looked forward, one game at a time. They looked back to evaluate a game, but they did not look back for old time's sake.
Trying to relive the past by focusing on what was leads to dysfunction and emotional struggle. Sitting back and wishing for what was is a crapshoot. It could lead to good memories of the past or it could lead to depression. Good memories are great but will not move you forward. You can’t live on memories, but you must move forward. Look ahead more than you look back. Keep the memories but keep them in perspective. Being intentional in moving forward through the transition is the path to success.
Principle number four: It takes time.
It might look like the Packers turned their fortunes around overnight. But they did a lot of practicing and learning. And they are not done. By their measure, they have work to do. They know over time, the offense will master the new scheme, and they will be even more powerful a team than they are now. I am sure they would love to move the clock forward and get to where they want to be now. But no one can move the clock.
If only we could control time! We live in time, or perhaps sometimes we feel like we are trapped by time. Time flies but it also crawls. Whatever time feels like for you right now, know that time is a critical factor in working your way through a transition. Time doesn’t fly or crawl, it is steady, but your attitude may impact how it feels. Here is the right perspective: you need time. Time is a healer and sometimes it even fixes things. Be patient.
Transitions are a natural part of life. Some are good, even great transitions. Others are transitions we wish we could avoid. Regardless of the kind of transition, the principles above are important to note and live. They do not take away the pain, they do not change the circumstances, but they can change you! And you are the key to successfully making it through the transition in which you may find yourself.
Coaching will help you through the transition you are experiencing, good or bad. Working with a coach, you will establish the best pathway forward. Coaching will empower you to walk through your transition with confidence. If you find yourself in transition, email me at info@davidthecoach.com, or text me your phone number and I will you to start a conversation to see if I can help you.
If you are reading this on social media, check out my website at www.davidthecoach.com. You will also find more blogs on transitions, fear, leadership, and other subjects dealing with success factors.