Change management efforts remains focused on the desired state and how each systemic element needs to change. Karl Albrecht’s Change Response Cycle describes the four phases individuals work through when faced with change. The four phases are threat, problem, solution, and habit. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was one of the first to recognize that humans go through phases following a loss. In her case, it was the families of dying cancer patients. Her five phases are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. You may see other forms of this, such as denial, resistance, adaptation, and involvement. All follow similar patterns that describe the phases people go through as they adjust to change. People perceive change as a loss—if only as the loss of what was. Understanding organizational culture is important because it can be managed. The culture—represented by a