Towards the end of graduate school, my husband let me know that he really wanted to join the Army. He then asked me what I thought, and I replied ……. Neither of us realized that we were walking into a lifestyle that would be filled with many adventures. Over the past 28 years, we have moved 11 times, established new health care at each location, uprooted the children and settled them into new schools, graduated both children from high school, created new professional opportunities for me, volunteered in various communities across the country and overseas , and met some amazing people. Yes, because we lived in Germany close to valuable resources, I had the bags packed for a quick evacuation when 9/11 happened and have been the only visible parent during some of the most challenging years of middle school and high school. But we have had some fantastic experiences as well, traveling to places that people do not normally see.

With my husband now discussing the inevitable retirement with me, I find myself asking THIS question over and again: what does change mean for us?

Change Management

To start preparing for this inevitable retirement, I began thinking of my family’s change management process like my clients’. After all, if you are going to make one of the largest personal transitions in your lifetime, you might as well implement a process like those that work for businesses.

According to Kelsey Miller from the Harvard Business School Online, “ Businesses must constantly evolve and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so could lead to stagnation or, worse, failure.” I acknowledge that if my husband does not retire from the Army soon, I can see that our lives will be negatively affected since we both want to be more available for aging parents and grown children.

I decided to use four basic steps of change management: 1. Understand change; 2. Plan change; 3. Implement change; and 4. Communicate change. This process will focus on the first step since my husband has quite some time until his retirement (over a year). I also know from experience that understanding the complexities of the necessary changes can lead to a successful change management plan.

My first concern is a loss of community. Since our biological families are usually located nowhere near us, we have built strong ties within the military, made stronger by hardships such as deployments, disruptions in schools, and learning a new culture and language. We have shared many good laughs as well as the occasional ugly cry.

My second concern relates to culture and how the community around us is willing to welcome us. When living in different parts of the world, we have adapted our lives to make the most of these experiences. For example, in South Korea, most of my travel was done by subway, train, or plane. We walked everywhere in between. I enjoyed this part of living there and want to be able to continue with this way of life. Will the new community be willing to accept their new neighbors long term?

My third concern is a lack of adventure. Whether thrilling or terrifying, life within the military lifestyle is always an adventure. This challenge is the one that tends to trouble me the most. One of my greatest fears of my husband retiring from the Army is that we will sink into our version of a boring, predictable life.

Independently of me, my husband expressed the same concerns. He also added that he wanted to make sure that his next career was in alignment with the resolution of those concerns. This part of understanding change for veterans highlighted in this link was listed often in my research.

While the understand change phase has been fairly flushed out, the next three steps are happening iteratively. For example, we have purchased our forever home in a community that addresses each of the above concerns and have started to incorporate changes before moving anything into this house. Additionally, my husband has started the process of networking for his next career to see what opportunities he would like to accept. Finally, we have started to inform family and friends that his retirement will occur within the next year or two.

While retirement from the military is a very personal example of change management, businesses also experience change management whether subtle or dynamic. For expert consultation with change management, please contact Sonya Hyde, SHyde@A-GAssociates.com at  A-G Associates.