Posted by Rakesh Shukla on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 @ 01:37 PM
221 Days, 16 Hours, 23 minutes ... that's how long it has been since the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and I am still crying over that loss. Did they really lose the championship game after going 18-0?
I am still in denial.
Unfortunately, denial is only stage 1 of the "5 Stages of Grief." The "5 Stages of Grief" is process by which people deal with tragedy and grief and was introduced by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book "On Death and Dying."
The stages are:
- Denial: "It can't be happening."
- Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."
- Bargaining: "Just let me live to see my children graduate."
- Depression: "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
- Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."
These stages can be applied to any form of catastrophic personal loss ... a loved one, job, freedom, a Super Bowl loss ... Tom Brady getting injured for the season ... and even Accounts Payable!
With some help by some great illustrations by Steve Greenberg (http://www.greenberg-art.com/), here is a tongue-in-cheek look at "The 5 Stages of AP Grief":
The 5 Stages of AP Grief
Stage 1: Denial
"There is just no way that there could be anything wrong with the way we process invoices around here. Whatever frustrations business managers, suppliers, auditors and my AP staff say they are experiencing must be bizarre delusions caused by impaired reasoning."
Stage 2: Anger
"I am SOOOO furious! WHO'S TO BLAME? I'm not gonna stand for this!
Why can't those lazy business managers send their invoice approvals in on time!
Why can't those incompetent suppliers send invoices that actually match the POs we send them!
Those @#%*! auditors found another control deficiency! Those pointy-headed, bean-counting suits are just too picky!
Those procurement boneheads are no help in resolving holds"
Why can't my AP work more efficiently with less errors?!"
Stage 3: Bargaining
"If we can just survive this quarterly close, I promise to do away with the manual, paper-intensive processes that are causing such long work hours. If this all goes away, I will simplify and automate our processes ... I PROMISE."
Stage 4: Depression
"This job is so hard and nobody appreciates all the hoops we have to jump through to get a stinkin' bill paid."
Stage 5: Acceptance
"It wasn't supposed to be this way... but I guess this is life. It is what it is. And, hey, if paying a bill was as easy as it sounds, I wouldn't have a job."
Again, thanks to Steve Greenberg for the great illustrations!
Illustrations by Steve Greenberg, Ventura County Star, Calif.
Posted here with artist's permission.
http://www.greenberg-art.com/
-Rakesh Shukla