It is well known to change practitioners that people, when faced with a significant change that touch them emotionally, go through stages of grief. The classical model involves the following successive stages:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
- Gratefulness
So, the same happens when faced by an earth-shattering transformation like the Fourth Revolution. We are grieving the world we understood, which seemed so stable and so easy to understand.
A large number of people are in still in denial; others are angry of their perceived lack of control over what is evolving. Others try to bargain out of it so as to remain on the side of the road in minimum comfort. Still others are in total depression because they feel they can’t cope with the changes of the world. And some – a minority – perceive this change as an opportunity.
An excellent resource on the particular case of social media is the post by Amber Naslund on Social media adoption and the stages of grief.
So, regarding the Fourth Revolution, at what stage of grief are you?
