The Liminal Pathways Study
By Gisela Wendling, Ph.D.
“This book is truly a gift for accomplished practitioners, change leaders, and those still new to the field and searching for theory and practice that will move them forward. And it should not go without mention that the attention to detail, the thoughtful use of language, and the unique graphic illustrations together make this work not only rigorous but beautiful.”
Alan Briskin, Ph.D.
Author of The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace and contributor to The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the Twenty-First Century.
The Liminal Pathways Study examines the Wendling Liminal Pathways Change Framework™ (LPF), which is grounded in ancient wisdom and modern perspectives and mirrors the complex ambiguity of actual, transformational change. It reveals essential distinctions and insights regarding how people experience and move through change and how the idea of the liminal opens new ways of thinking about and practicing designing and leading change. It explores the central role of inner processes as transformational catalysts, and how working with affect can allow people to become vessels for positive change.
This groundbreaking work is written for curious practitioners, experienced change leaders and those new to change work. This includes those of you who are working on your own change challenges.
The Study demonstrates the efficacy and benefits of the framework and participants’ stories, and the ideas and insights described paint a much-needed picture of what really goes on during change. This book will help you evolve your mental models and approaches to working with change.
This study is available as a 280-page paperback book and as a high-quality eBook.
About the Author
Gisela Wendling, Ph.D., is CEO and senior consultant at The Grove Consultants International. She is also the co-author of Visual Consulting: Designing & Leading Change and the Leading as Sacred Practice eBook.
Dr. Wendling works across all levels of systems, from coaching individual leaders and their teams to partnering with her clients to design and guide whole-systems change and large cross-organizational stakeholder initiatives.
Her approach integrates disciplines from across the social sciences, specifically cultural anthropology, social, humanistic, and analytical psychology, organization and leadership development theory, as well as three decades of practical experience.
What is Liminality?
In this video, Gisela Wendling, Ph.D., introduces you to the term "liminality" and explains its value in appreciating the contemporary experience of change which is the central concept of her well-researched change framework, written about in her Liminal Pathways Study.
An Entrepreneurial Approach to Change: Being Willing to Take Risks
Gisela Wendling, Ph.D., discusses inner and outer processes through her innovative Liminal Pathways Framework. In The Liminal Pathways Study, she examines the impact and efficacy of the Framework which is grounded in ancient wisdom and modern perspectives and mirrors the complex ambiguity of actual, transformational change.
Liminality, Ritual & the Sacred in Leadership
In this Next Practice Institute Keynote, gain insight into personal, organizational and even larger social experiences of transformative change through Dr. Wendling’s Liminal Pathways Change Framework and learn about how a sense of the sacred can inform your change practice.
Praise for The Liminal Pathways Study
“This is an exciting read. The book will reside on my bedside for a time so that I can step back from my workday, reread sections, and reflect on how else I can help my organization to move through all the changes we are experiencing. ”
Leisa Thompson
General Manager, Environmental Services, Metropolitan Council, Minnesota
“Our need to deal with uncertainty skillfully is only growing. Gisela Wendling’s approach to liminality—a condition that enables evolution out of uncertainty—provides us with an invaluable tool.”
Dr. Laura Calderón de la Barca
Collective Trauma Healing Specialist and Consultant; Senior Associate Collective Change Lab
“We take highly experienced, educated leaders from a common beginning through a “crucible” experience and back to integrating with their own organizations without losing anyone’s power of critical thought or dissent. I recommend to anyone working in similar, high-stakes conditions to consider adding this approach to their leadership portfolio.”
Stephen J. Shackelton
US National Park Service (Ret.), Director, National Parks Institute, University of California