Stage one: Denial
“This 90-page report will be easier to read than the others that I’ve come across.”
Stage two: Anger
“Why do they keep saying ‘systems thinking’? They haven’t explained what it means once.”
“The executive summary itself is 25 pages long—and most of it is spent explaining why this report is important instead of showing me how the data can create change.”
Stage three: Bargaining
“Maybe if I print it out and take notes alongside, it will go faster.”
“Reading it in its entirety will help me learn more about the sector I work in—there has to be new thinking/data/viewpoints in here somewhere. Maybe I can form a study circle in my office and we can do it together.”
Stage four: Sadness
“As useful as this report may be, I cannot spend the better part of my week trying to read it. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be for me, at this time.”
Stage five: Acceptance
“I’ll wait for IDR to publish a 1200-word article on this report—or better yet, maybe I can just read their Instagram post about that article.”
