The Kübler-Ross Change Curve (5 stages of grief) in 2025

All businesses experience significant change every year. Whether desired or suffered, internal or external, change management concerns the organization, but also the payroll, the working environment and many other aspects. In some cases, resistance to change can occur. The Kübler-Ross change curve is one of several change management models allowing managers to better organize this change within their teams.

Origins of the Kübler-Ross change curve

The development of the 5 stages of the grieving process is the result of more than 500 interviews carried out with terminally ill patients. These interviews were conducted in order to collect information relating to patient’s perception of death. As a result, this model is based mainly on the testimony of patients who face the news of their own death.

It is therefore another type of mourning, namely mourning for oneself. Unlike a person who loses a loved one, the model is based on the impressions of a person who is preparing to lose all their loved ones.

Élisabeth Kübler-Ross, psychiatrist and psychologist, noticed certain similarities in patients’ behavior towards death (denial, shock, anger, etc.). In 1975, she became famous thanks to her book “On Death And Dying” which highlighted for the first time the 5 stages of the grieving process.

Today, the results of this experiment are being integrated into the context of companies, and make it possible to better prepare employees for the various changes that may affect them within their work.

Why support change in business?

The process of change elicits various emotions in individuals, including fear, stress, sadness, joy, and aggressiveness. In a workplace setting, employees undergoing changes individually may experience a range of emotions. If these emotions tend to be negative, it not only hinders the individual’s progress but also has the potential to impact the entire team. Numerous factors, including an employee’s personality, personal history, background, experiences, and attitude, play pivotal roles in shaping their reception of change. Therefore, successful change leadership requires comprehensive support. Employing effective communication and guidance, a manager can assist their employees in embracing change management and navigating through these transitional periods more effectively. To provide better support to their employees, the manager must be able to identify and analyze changes in their behavior to determine at what stage of the process they are.

What is the grief curve?

Also called “the change curve”, the mourning curve comes from the work of Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Élisabeth Kübler-Ross, ranked in 1999 among the 100 most important thinkers of the 20th century. In the event of a major change, each person goes through a series of emotional phases that disrupt their daily life and the stability of their life.

Formalized by E. Kübler-Ross, this process takes the form of a curve, which includes the different phases a person experiences when an unforeseen event occurs. These phases can be grouped into two major cycles. The first is the descending phase during which the person adopts a negative and often counterproductive attitude, focused on refusal and the past. It is during this stage that we generally speak of “resistance to change”.

As for the second period, this is the ascending phase during which the employee adopts a productive attitude and is oriented towards the positive and the future. Let us also point out that the change curve is not a linear sequence.

What are the 5 stages of grief?

The grieving period includes 5 main stages. These are denial, anger, depression, acceptance, and serenity.

1. Denial

Following the announcement of an event disrupting the life of the company and incidentally that of the poorly prepared individual, the latter is first surprised by the news and refuses reality. We then speak of the period of shock and denial.

2. Anger

After the period of denial, the individual begins by accepting reality. At this time, they may feel fear. This fear of the unknown and of change can give rise to a feeling of frustration and anger. These are the beginnings of resistance to change.

3. Depression

After the period of anger comes that of “tears”. At this level, the person realizes that the change is indeed real. The result is a great nostalgia for the past as well as a great apprehension of the future.

4. Acceptance

From this stage, your employees will stop fighting against change and look to the past. It is in fact from this period that they will succeed in overcoming resistance and begin to look towards the future.

5. Serenity

Having reached this stage, this means that your employees have succeeded in understanding and integrating the change. They indeed managed to adapt and began by changing their way of doing things.

Model critiques

Criticisms of the Kübler-Ross formula are mainly based on the absence of evidence and the lack of empirical research. On the other hand, this five-phase plan is also criticized for coming from a particular culture, at a particular time. As a result, it would be particularly difficult to apply it effectively to people from another culture.

These arguments were notably put forward by several experts such as Robert J. Kastenbaum (1932-2013), a famous gerontologist who notably raised several points, namely:

• There is no evidence that actually confirms that all individuals experiencing grief move from phase 1 to phase 5.
• The existence of these periods has not been demonstrated empirically.
• Constraints, resources, and characteristics of the immediate environment make a big difference and are not taken into account.

A 2003 study by Maciejewski and colleagues at Yale University concluded with mixed results. Some results are in fact consistent with a 5-step plan, while others are not. The absence of objective clinical observation as well as the lack of support from the scientific community leads one to believe that Kübler’s model is simply a fallacy or a myth.