Not unusual...

There are a large number of variants of this sequence of happenings. I first ran across it several decades ago. Apparently it was first put together by some irreverent wit who was adding a dose of reality to the high-flown phrases that are usually presented as the sequence of steps in project management. 

1. Wild enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Confusion
4. Panic
5. Search for the guilty
6. Punishment of the innocent
7. Distinction for the uninvolved
8. Burying the bodies, scattering the ashes 

I was struck by how many things that go on in large work related undertakings seem to eerily resemble, in some form or fashion,  the steps as they're presented above...as contrasted to how they're presented in writings and memos and thinkings and talkings about projects.

That sequence, or different versions of it, also seems to occur in many different settings and circumstances whenever anything new is attempted...at least that's what I've noticed. I've been involved in such debacles in my life, I saw such stuff in my family when I was growing up and I've witnessed this stuff in other lives too.

And rarely is any writing or talking about what has happened ever stated in quite this way. Life often mocks our attempts to control it and sometimes there's someone around who's willing to point this out in a humorous way.