William Bridges (1933 – February 17, 2013) was an American author, speaker, and organizational consultant. He emphasized the importance of understanding transitions as a key for organizations to succeed in making changes. He says transition is the psychological process of adapting to change. Transition consists of three phases: letting go of the past, the "neutral zone" where the past is gone but the new isn't fully present, and making the new beginning.[1]
He was educated at Harvard (BA, English), Columbia (MA, American History) and Brown (PhD, American Civilization) Universities [2] and taught American Literature at Mills College until 1974,when he became a consultant.
Bridges died on February 17, 2013, from complications of Lewy body disease at his home in Larkspur. He was 79.[3]