This section addresses the human consequences of our professional decisions. Business failures are not just statistics. They represent people who have been hurt or even destroyed, with consequences extending far beyond the initial trauma suffered when a reorganization or bankruptcy procedure starts or unfolds.

For individuals who invested their energy, and sometimes sacrificed their personal life, to create a business, bankruptcy defines the end of their vision and their social standing. This event is lived as a tragedy, like a social death sentence, which could result in physical death in the worst scenario.

We must fight this fate. Professionals involved in bankruptcy proceedings, and judges making the decisions, should take the human factor into consideration and adapt their language to these circumstances. Of course, fraud and deception should not be tolerated. But when in doubt, we believe that it is important to spare the men and women who have run into this kind of trouble.

There are organizations and think tanks that are working on issues regarding support for businesses trying to reorganize, to start employee-owned businesses, to close certain sites or to merge with another business. Lessons learned from these experiences could be brought to bear on bankruptcy proceedings.

Grip 21 has asked professionals who specialize in providing this type of support to translate their experience into special methods allowing bankruptcy professionals to take the human dimension into consideration and to adjust their practices accordingly. This cooperation between professionals in the field of business failures and professionals promoting social harmony could also be of great service to disenfranchised business leaders and employees facing unemployment.