On Grief and Grieving
The five steps through which people go when confronted with a mourning—and, more generally, any unwanted situation.
Author(s): Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, David Kessler
Publisher: Scribner
Date of publication: 2014
Manageris opinion
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was a Swiss-American psychiatrist renowned for having developed the theory that is a reference today on the different emotional stages through which a person goes after a diagnostic of a disease in its terminal phase. This theory was then applied to mourning and to all forms of major loss. This book, written in collaboration with David Kessler, provides a synthesis of her observations and conclusions, detailing the five steps of mourning: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Although her field of study is initially really remote from the business world, the lessons that we can learn from it extend to situations of consequential change that we sometimes experience in our working life. Understanding how people progress towards the acceptance of an unwanted situation—and how everyone does it at their own pace—helps gain in serenity and tolerance towards others.
A book that is valuable at both personal and professional levels.
