Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Describe the stages of the Change Curve and their relevance to data migration
- Explain the timing of the mid-cycle slump relative to key migration activities
- Describe how PDM’s design choices mitigate the impact of the Change Curve
The Change Curve
The Change Curve describes the predictable emotional journey that individuals and organisations experience when facing significant change. PDM’s model follows the Kubler-Ross original. The stages are:
- Initial awareness - the change is announced; reactions range from curiosity to shock
- Denial - the reality of the change has not yet been internalised (“it probably won’t affect us much”)
- Anger and resistance - the implications become clear; people push back, protect their territory, question the need for change. Recognise this as a positive step: it is further along the curve than denial. Encourage dissent, because it leads to negotiation
- Bargaining - negotiation about how the change will be implemented; conditional acceptance
- Depression and slump - a low-energy period as the old way of working is lost and the new has not yet begun
- Acceptance - the change is internalised and the organisation begins to move forward
- Integration - the new way of working becomes normal
The Timing Problem
The mid-cycle slump - steps 4–5 - typically coincides with the period of most intensive data gathering in a migration project.
Why? Because:
- Large-scale system migrations take time to plan and initiate (months to years)
- The slump hits as the migration becomes tangibly real - when data analysts start appearing with their laptops and asking to see the equipment database
- This is also when the project most needs business cooperation: DQR meetings, mapping reviews, BTR interviews, data cleaning activities
The worst outcome: the project team, frustrated by resistance, retreats to a purely technical approach and treats the business as a data source to be mined rather than a partner to be engaged. This deepens the slump and confirms the business’s view that they are being done to, not done with.
How PDM Addresses the Slump
PDM’s design choices directly address the Change Curve problem:
Start early. Engagement begins in the MSG phase - before the technical work is visible and before the slump has set in. The first engagement is about understanding the business (LA interviews, BTR Pass 1), not about solving problems.
Make complaints into requirements. The BTR interview process is specifically designed to channel resistance productively. When a Data Owner says “this will never work because our equipment codes are inconsistent” - that is a DQR. When they say “we can’t go live in December because that’s when we do year-end” - that is a go-live restriction in the BTR. Their concerns become the project’s specifications.
Give people ownership. BDEs who own DQR items, Data Owners who sign BTRs - these people have invested in the outcome. Their emotional journey through the change curve is accelerated by the sense of ownership that PDM builds in.
Persist through the slump. PDM explicitly acknowledges the slump and designs for it. The project team is not surprised by resistance; they are equipped to work through it.
The Mid-Cycle Slump in Practice
In the DHGS case study, the mid-cycle slump manifests in different ways for different data owners:
- The Kelsey Pit data owner is territorial and initially unhelpful - resolved through patient BTR interviewing
- A finance BDE is overwhelmed and unable to attend DQR meetings - resolved by restructuring the DQR board to require only focused participation rather than attendance at all items
- A technical system expert goes on leave at a critical mapping phase - a KDSM risk that was not managed early enough
Each of these is a predictable consequence of the Change Curve operating in a real organisation. The lesson is not to be surprised by them - it is to design the project so that they can be absorbed.
Key Takeaways
- The Change Curve is a predictable emotional journey through denial, resistance, slump, and acceptance
- The slump typically coincides with peak data gathering - the worst possible time for business disengagement
- PDM counters the slump by starting early, converting resistance into requirements, giving people ownership, and designing for persistence
- The Change Curve is not an obstacle to be overcome - it is a feature of human responses to change that the project must be designed around
- PDM is built around Super-SMART tasks that build the individual and build the team so the project can be delivered. This is the key differentiator of PDM
Book Reference
Practical Data Migration by Johny Morris (BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT):
- Chapter 09 - Business Transformation Realisation