---
url: https://www.adoptionlab.ai/stages/
title: "Where is each person? A free change-stages card | AdoptionLab.AI"
description: "Listen for where each person is in a change, letting go, the in-between, or a new start, and respond to that. Free to print and share."
generated: 2026-11-07T16:21:35.195Z
---Free tool
# Where is each person?
A change has a date. People do not.
The change happened on Monday. The people are still on their way. Most people move through three stages: letting go, the in-between, and a new start. Use this to listen for where each person is, then respond to that, not to where the calendar says they should be.
Print the card [Ask for printed cards](mailto:mhumer@adoptionlab.ai?subject=Card%20request%3A%20Where%20is%20each%20person%3F&body=Organization%3A%0AHow%20many%20cards%3A%0AMailing%20address%3A%0AHow%20did%20you%20hear%20about%20the%20card%3F%0A) [Email it to a colleague](mailto:?subject=Where%20is%20each%20person%3F&body=Worth%20a%20look%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adoptionlab.ai%2Fstages)
After go-live, when it isn't sticking
## Where is each person?
A change has a date. People do not.
- 1 What is ending, what stays, and what is new? Say it in that order. People hear little of the new while they are still guarding the old.
- 2 Who is still letting go? Listen for: talk about the old way, side workarounds. Help: name the loss, thank the old way.
- 3 Who is in the in-between? Listen for: stopped the old way, unsure of the new one. Help: quick answers, short check-ins, patience with the dip.
- 4 Who has a new start? Listen for: uses the new way without thinking. Help: let them show others.
- 5 Who slid back? That's normal. Meet them where they are now.
AdoptionLab.AI
The people side of quality improvement
adoptionlab.ai/stages
## How to use it
### Mark the ending
Thank the people who built the old way, by name. Ask each person to name one thing they will miss.
### Say it more than once
People under stress miss a lot the first time. Repeat what ends, what stays, and what is new.
### Use it to understand, not to label
The stages overlap, and people move back and forth. They are a rough guide, not a schedule.
## Why it matters
Most plans track the change. Few track the adjusting. When a change does not stick, the adjusting is usually where it stalled, and what people lose is often not on the project plan: a routine, feeling good at their job, their standing as the person who knew how things worked.
## Go deeper, free
How People Move Through a Change is a free, self-paced course, roughly 35 minutes, no sign-in. Learn the three stages people move through, name what is ending and what stays before you sell what is new, and respond to where each person is.
[Start the free course](https://campus.adoptionlab.ai/free/how-people-move-through-a-change)
## More free tools
- [End of Every Meeting Five questions for the last five minutes of any meeting.](/meetings)
- [Change Cup check-in A personal check for when one more change might spill over.](/change-cup)
- [Who's on this change? A one-page role check so nobody assumes someone else has it.](/roles)
- [People-side starter Five questions to start the people side of any QI project.](/starter)
- [Leading Through AI Five things leaders need to know about AI, and a first step for each.](/leading-through-ai)
## Running a quality improvement project?
We help QI teams with the people side of change. [See how it works](/quality-improvement), or [set up a 30-minute call](/contact).