The CASE® Method for transitions

The CASE® Method for transitions is an invaluable aid for accompanying major changes in personal and organisational life. Let us take a look at where it comes from and what it is used for.

In the beginning was conflict

The CASE® Method was born around 2014 out of my experience in the field of conflict transformation. It was the evolution into a method of the approach I had previously created under the name Transformative Communication.

Years of study and practice led me to found the CASE® Method on the more than 30 years of research work of two ‘giants’ in the field of modern peace studies: Pat Patfoort and Johan Galtung. Their scientific approach, put into practice on the world’s most difficult conflict fields, identified the essential causes of conflict. Subsequently, they indicated ways to remove these causes and build peace.

Yes, peace is built, it does not come by itself by miracle. That is why one of the four phases of the CASE® Method uses the tools of Patfoort and Galtung, with a few adjustments, to give a solid foundation for peace building. I will always be grateful to these two people, whom I had the good fortune and honour to know personally, for giving me exceptional tools for analysing conflict situations.

Every conflict is a transition

The CASE® Method for transitions stems from the realisation that to transform a conflict requires change. And that every change is the outcome of a conflict. Not necessarily between two parties, on the contrary: often the need for a transition arises from an inner conflict, of the person or the organisation.

The conflict that leads to the transition, in turn, may overlap with other conflicts that prevent or slow down the transition itself. But let us go in order: let us define conflict.

Conflict is the apparent incompatibility of needs, objectives, priorities. We need not go into detail here as to why we call it ‘apparent’. More details can be found in my book Sustainable Leadership. Or also in Piero P. Giorgi’s seminal text ‘Violenza inevitabile, una menzogna moderna”, Jaca Book, 2010. To call it apparent, for what is of interest here, is to have the confidence that it is possible to transform it, to transcend it.

Not being well in a given situation represents a conflict: I am in place A and would like to be in place B. Or: my company is in situation C and I think it would be more effective if it were restructured in situation D… and so on.

Why do we talk about conflict between these two states? Because there are good reasons why a person is in place A rather than B; similarly, there are reasons why an organisation is in state C rather than D.

The comfort zone

One of the fundamental reasons why we sometimes stay in place A in the example, or situation C, is because that situation constitutes a known state. Although we recognise it as sub-optimal, or even undesirable, we are used to it. We know what it is like there, we have now developed the tools and strategies for adaptation.

In some ways, the known place represents a ‘comfort zone’ from which it is difficult to part. It is one of the paradoxes of the human condition. For a person, it may be a desire not to alter, through change, relationships with others around us. For an organisation it is often the difficulty of overcoming the ‘we have always done it this way’, or of facing the fear that people have of going down unfamiliar paths.

It has happened that I have worked with companies whose product lists were stuck in the late 1800s and who, even if pressed by margins that were now at the bone, did not want to review their market position and innovate their product. I am talking about companies with billions in turnover, with articulated governance structures and (presumed) top level managers, not the corner tobacconist’s shop.

In some cases, it is considered more comfortable to die, whether actually or metaphorically, than to face the transition to an unknown state. Even when it is obvious and demonstrable that the transition would lead to a much better situation.

CASE® provides security first

A first benefit of applying the CASE® Method for transitions is to provide a sense of security to those facing a transition. Since fear of the unknown is one of the greatest obstacles to change, the possibility of reassurance is a key element.

Our rational mind, the one to which we generally owe fears, is reassured by adopting an organised method of setting up a process such as transition. The structure of CASE® is perfect for this.

The CASE® Method for transitions offers a simple and modular structure, so it can be easily understood in its essence. The complexity reached at the deepest levels does not need to be mastered by the customer, but its presence gives the idea that every aspect of the process can be considered and governed. In fact, it is precisely this characteristic of simplicity and multi-dimensionality that allows CASE® to manage the complexity of the transition without complications, in total safety.

Analysis and strategy combined

With a structured and simple approach, we can appreciate the advantages of the CASE® Method,for transitions  which combines analysis and strategy. This is thanks to the division into four phases:

1. Cognitive: serves to ascertain facts, distinguishing them from interpretations and opinions. While legitimate, these do not serve to see clearly with respect to the transition to be made. The stakes are determined and the cards are seen;
2. Analytical: here the fundamentals of the parties (or within the same party) are analysed. Then you identify the essential needs that are or are not met in the current state and how they could be better met in the future state. Risks and opportunities, allies and obstacles that may affect the effectiveness of the transition and its level of difficulty are determined. A kind of SWOT analysis can also be carried out, if it is useful.
3. Strategic: the transition path is determined according to the resources available to the person or organisation. These resources may be psychological, cultural, economic, know-how, personnel or skills, territorial… of all kinds. Timeframes are defined and with them a strategic planning of the transition. As far as possible, in a natural continuation of the analytical phase, an attempt is made to consider possible contingencies and hypothesise potential variants, so as to be as prepared as possible for them.
4. Executive: here resources are organised, found and gathered to be put to work. Strategy is turned into practice. It is important to measure progress towards the desired state, as well as to define possible corrections. Here we see the approach very similar to a classic Deming Cycle or PDCA.

The time to walk alone

It will be in the execution phase that, with the help of the competent coach, the right time to walk alone will come. Yes, because the aim of an honest coach is to help the client to walk alone as soon as possible. Personally, I am profoundly convinced that each person has within him or herself all the tools to face the challenges of his or her life, including transitions and big changes.

However, for a whole range of social, emotional, cultural, educational, experience, genealogical reasons…-  there is no limit to the influencing factors – we are often cut off from these innate tools of ours. Hence the usefulness of enlisting the help of someone from the outside who can help us find a way to activate those abilities of ours.

If you want to try…

If you are going through a big change, a transition, or you feel that you should but cannot yet understand how to initiate or manage it, competent coaching can help you. The CASE® Method for transitions can be the tool to find your own unique and original way, drawing on the experience of many other people I have accompanied throughout my professional life and from whom I have learnt so much.

Write to me here: federico@federicofioretto.biz to make an appointment online and we will examine your situation together. If you want, you can already anticipate something in the message, to prepare our first meeting (kindly don’t write ten pages… 🙂

See you soon, and have a nice life in the meantime.