Your Burnout Is Unique. Your Recovery Will Be, Too.
April 19, 2021 2:02 AM Subscribe
Recent research suggests that when you’re feeling burned out, the best person to help you recover may be yourself. Burnout is not a monolithic phenomenon, but rather, it can present as any combination of three distinct symptoms: exhaustion (a depletion of mental or physical resources), cynical detachment (a depletion of social connectedness), and a reduced sense of efficacy (a depletion of value for oneself). To recover from burnout, you must identify which of these resources has been depleted and take action to replenish those resources.
Harvard Business Review would like the workers of the world to know that when capitalism has ground you down so much that you are not producing up to corporate mandated standard that it's your responsibility to deal with it and get back to work.
Perhaps if we accepted burnout for what it is, a red flag of injust treatment, we might start to change the way the world works.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:01 AM on April 19, 2021 [82 favorites]
Perhaps if we accepted burnout for what it is, a red flag of injust treatment, we might start to change the way the world works.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:01 AM on April 19, 2021 [82 favorites]
Speaking only for myself, I am burned out because I'm tired of doing the same sort of work after 25 years, but I currently have a decent job with decent benefits and a reasonable commute. There's a lot of security I would have to risk in order to change my job.
So I guess here's where we talk about how healthcare shouldn't be tied to employment.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:04 AM on April 19, 2021 [45 favorites]
So I guess here's where we talk about how healthcare shouldn't be tied to employment.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:04 AM on April 19, 2021 [45 favorites]
Perhaps if we accepted burnout for what it is, a red flag of injust treatment, we might start to change the way the world works.
“responsibility for preventing employee burnout rests squarely on the shoulders of employers”
So you do agree with the article, then?
posted by ambrosen at 5:48 AM on April 19, 2021 [9 favorites]
“responsibility for preventing employee burnout rests squarely on the shoulders of employers”
So you do agree with the article, then?
posted by ambrosen at 5:48 AM on April 19, 2021 [9 favorites]
It's literally the first sentence.
posted by schmod at 6:02 AM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by schmod at 6:02 AM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
Well, of course you have to take care of yourself. Literally nobody else will. Duh.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:17 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:17 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
true, jennfullmoon but I’m constantly surprised by how many people don’t realize it, or decide to ignore it. I’m passing this article on to my very burnt out wife because I’m hoping it’ll give her the social excuse to start taking more “me” time. My urgings so far haven’t helped.
posted by heyitsgogi at 6:21 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by heyitsgogi at 6:21 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Despite basalganglia's (possibly eponysterical, the research is inconclusive?) hot-button response to a misleading pull quote, and despite the article's opening that "Research has definitively shown that burnout is an organizational problem, not an individual one", I think that a notable shortcoming of this article is that there's no indication that individual recovery should, in a just world or at least in a well-functioning organization, happen in concert with institutional change.
If a wheel falls off an airplane, even if that plane lands to no further human injury, there is always - always - a followup investigation is made to learn in depth not just what happened but what caused it to happen, what situation, process or training failures or omissions led to that outcome. Recommendations are made for how to change the institution to mitigate or remove that risk of failure in the future. This article seems to admit that, once the wheel falls off it is up to the pilot to land the plane - which is true! - but not that it is equally incumbent on the airline as an institution to keep wheels from falling off airplanes in the future.
Medicine, as a field, seems to have had this realization forced on it by the fact that practitioner burnout has a direct and measurable effect on the medical outcomes of patients, but the rest of us could stand to get there sooner rather than later.
posted by mhoye at 6:26 AM on April 19, 2021 [28 favorites]
If a wheel falls off an airplane, even if that plane lands to no further human injury, there is always - always - a followup investigation is made to learn in depth not just what happened but what caused it to happen, what situation, process or training failures or omissions led to that outcome. Recommendations are made for how to change the institution to mitigate or remove that risk of failure in the future. This article seems to admit that, once the wheel falls off it is up to the pilot to land the plane - which is true! - but not that it is equally incumbent on the airline as an institution to keep wheels from falling off airplanes in the future.
Medicine, as a field, seems to have had this realization forced on it by the fact that practitioner burnout has a direct and measurable effect on the medical outcomes of patients, but the rest of us could stand to get there sooner rather than later.
posted by mhoye at 6:26 AM on April 19, 2021 [28 favorites]
The article says that prevention is the employer's responsibility, not treatment. So just like most other business problems, the consequences roll down hill to be fixed by the lowest person in the organization. I've always been on small "lean" teams that do detailed work in furtherance of the "big picture". This often means no one can cover all of your work when you are on vacation. It means many things can only be done by one person. It means when things come to a head that your manager and their manager might not even have the resources to help you. It is the one constant thing about my 25+ year career. When external factors combine with internal pressures like they have this year, something is going to break and I just hope it is not one of my team's members.
posted by soelo at 6:47 AM on April 19, 2021 [24 favorites]
posted by soelo at 6:47 AM on April 19, 2021 [24 favorites]
something is going to break and I just hope it is not one of my team's members.
It will be though, because nobody else is there to break.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:57 AM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
It will be though, because nobody else is there to break.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:57 AM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
In addition, our research illustrated the fact that agency is essential. To effectively overcome burnout, employees must feel empowered to take control over their own lives and decisions.
What about when the burnout is more about the concept of capitalism itself than about a particular job, though? If my ability to remain housed and fed is contingent on selling 40+ hours of my labour every week, I'm never going to feel empowered to take control over my own life and decisions, because my ideal life and decisions don't involve selling my labour for 40+ hours a week. The "choice" not to doesn't feel like a choice in the meaningful sense.
posted by terretu at 7:00 AM on April 19, 2021 [34 favorites]
What about when the burnout is more about the concept of capitalism itself than about a particular job, though? If my ability to remain housed and fed is contingent on selling 40+ hours of my labour every week, I'm never going to feel empowered to take control over my own life and decisions, because my ideal life and decisions don't involve selling my labour for 40+ hours a week. The "choice" not to doesn't feel like a choice in the meaningful sense.
posted by terretu at 7:00 AM on April 19, 2021 [34 favorites]
Despite basalganglia's (possibly eponysterical, the research is inconclusive?) hot-button response to a misleading pull quote
I disagree with this characterization, I think basalganglia's comment is extremely on-point to the substance of the article. Burnout and moral injury are distinct but related phenomena with similar symptoms, and failing to identify moral injury as such can prevent proper recovery from burnout.
Speaking from my own experience, I have been suffering from both for quite a while now, at least 18 months. I am actually fairly good at taking the steps described in the article to address my personal burnout, but there is nothing I can do about the moral injury I am subjected to on an ongoing basis. Consequently I've been caught in a cycle of being burned out, managing to recover somewhat by focusing on aspects of my job that I love and/or believe are critically important and which I know I'm good at and/or which are most beneficial to others around me, being re-exposed to yet another moral injury from the sick system I work in, and burning out again. Although I'm desperately looking for a way to escape this cycle by finding a new job, the moral injury and burnout themselves impede my ability to apply for jobs that would allow me to escape it.
You can't effectively treat a wound that's being constantly re-opened, and you can't treat burnout against a background of constant moral injury.
posted by biogeo at 7:02 AM on April 19, 2021 [28 favorites]
The first step is lifting your eyes and recognizing that the smell of smoke is coming off of you.
Maybe some Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq will help here [SLYT].
posted by wenestvedt at 7:03 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe some Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq will help here [SLYT].
posted by wenestvedt at 7:03 AM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
(I've also got a whole rant about assuming the basal ganglia are primarily about reflexive action but ironically I'd be too burned out to present it right now.)
posted by biogeo at 7:05 AM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 7:05 AM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
What if part of the reason for the burnout is the low grade but constant stress associated with a global pandemic and the added monotony of working from home for the last 13 months. (You know, hypothetically!) I don't mean to sound flippant but these are external factors outside both my control and to a large extent the control of my employee. It's quite interesting that an article published in April 2021 on burnout doesn't at least mention the pandemic...
posted by piyushnz at 7:56 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by piyushnz at 7:56 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
yes ive been saying lately that my lack of work life balance is at least as reflective of my lack of life in the denominator as my excess of work in the numerator.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:02 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:02 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
My first side-eye is cast to the assumption (as far as I can see, entirely unargued-for ) that exhaustion, cynical detachment, and a reduced sense of efficacy are a matter of "resources" that have been "depleted" and can be "replenished".
low grade but constant stress...
Even before this year, that's what work is now, more than it ever was before. I have been thinking that a big part of the sense of well-being that I (sometimes) experience on the weekend is that I am temporarily freed from having to monitor multiple channels of communication each day. If your job requires you to do work that you need concentration for, this is kind of a disaster. There is so much noise and so many interruptions. So many people who send communications every single time they have a thought. But there are also urgent messages mixed in with that, so I can't just ignore it and check email twice a day or something. And every message is an interruption, even if it does not contain some additional vile task that I must perform.
posted by thelonius at 8:48 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
low grade but constant stress...
Even before this year, that's what work is now, more than it ever was before. I have been thinking that a big part of the sense of well-being that I (sometimes) experience on the weekend is that I am temporarily freed from having to monitor multiple channels of communication each day. If your job requires you to do work that you need concentration for, this is kind of a disaster. There is so much noise and so many interruptions. So many people who send communications every single time they have a thought. But there are also urgent messages mixed in with that, so I can't just ignore it and check email twice a day or something. And every message is an interruption, even if it does not contain some additional vile task that I must perform.
posted by thelonius at 8:48 AM on April 19, 2021 [14 favorites]
So I guess here's where we talk about how healthcare shouldn't be tied to employment.
It's the best system in the world! We should also get auto and homeowner's insurance through our jobs!
posted by thelonius at 8:59 AM on April 19, 2021 [4 favorites]
It's the best system in the world! We should also get auto and homeowner's insurance through our jobs!
posted by thelonius at 8:59 AM on April 19, 2021 [4 favorites]
So you do agree with the article, then?
ambrosen
It's literally the first sentence.
schmod
Yes, but the second sentence (which ambrosen has misleadingly truncated) is:
This kind of bullshit is how you get management telling you they hear you and agree that the organization needs change, but they notice you haven't been taking advantage of the weekly meditation classes they've made available. And have you tried participating in the company exercise challenge? Exercise can really do wonders to replenish your mental energy.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:00 AM on April 19, 2021 [29 favorites]
ambrosen
It's literally the first sentence.
schmod
Yes, but the second sentence (which ambrosen has misleadingly truncated) is:
But while responsibility for preventing employee burnout rests squarely on the shoulders of employers, remedying burnout once you’re suffering from it is much less straightforward.The entire rest of the article then bloviates about all the things employees could be doing to "replenish their depleted resources", while cynically weaponizing terms like compassion and self-care. Even the section noting that a feeling of agency is crucial to avoiding burnout...concludes that it really would be best for managers to give employees space to take care of it themselves.
This kind of bullshit is how you get management telling you they hear you and agree that the organization needs change, but they notice you haven't been taking advantage of the weekly meditation classes they've made available. And have you tried participating in the company exercise challenge? Exercise can really do wonders to replenish your mental energy.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:00 AM on April 19, 2021 [29 favorites]
Reading the article, I think that the overall point isn't that employers aren't responsible for preventing burnout (they are), or that self-care is good (it is) - but that there are different types of burnout and strategies for dealing with them need to be different.
Going back to article:
posted by jb at 10:22 AM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
Going back to article:
...[burnout] can present as any combination of three distinct symptoms: exhaustion (a depletion of mental or physical resources), cynical detachment (a depletion of social connectedness), and a reduced sense of efficacy (a depletion of value for oneself). To recover from burnout, you must identify which of these resources has been depleted and take action to replenish those resources.To be honest, I can't help but wonder if this syndrome we've labelled "burnout" really is a coherent condition, or whether there really are different issues (both causes and strategies to deal with) when it comes to exhaustion and/or constant stress, versus cynicism and/or feelings of inefficacy.
For example, when exhaustion is the primary source of burnout, we found that re-energizing acts of self-care are the most effective tool for recovery...
On the other hand, when burnout is due to cynicism, self-care may not be the most effective strategy. When feeling alienated, focusing on yourself may lead you to withdraw further, while being kind to others can help you regain a sense of connectedness and belonging in your community...
...when employees struggled with feelings of inefficacy, our research showed that acts focused on bolstering their positive sense of self were the most impactful.
posted by jb at 10:22 AM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
To be honest, I can't help but wonder if this syndrome we've labelled "burnout" really is a coherent condition, or whether there really are different issues (both causes and strategies to deal with) when it comes to exhaustion and/or constant stress, versus cynicism and/or feelings of inefficacy.
I think they're ultimately rooted in the same place. I've seen it described as the result of unmet expectations with little hope of improvement. Cynicism may just be a symptom of burnout, rather than a cause at that point. Burnout for me has always been a sign that I've done what I can at a particular place and it's time for me to move on. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but I don't know of a ton of people on an upward trajectory who would classify themselves as "burned out", it seems to happen when you've leveled off or regressing, which naturally breeds cynicism.
Exhaustion from running yourself ragged is treatable, but the underlying stressors that made you run yourself ragged to begin with need to be improved or relief is temporary. Over the course of a career switching jobs becomes less effective if you feel you've leveled off as a whole.
The last year has been especially rough because there's been no reset of expectations or time away to re center yourself. For me, not being able to take any kind of time off longer than a weekend away somewhere within driving distance has been difficult. Pandemic stress in general adds a lot of overhead and people seem to be hitting the wall hard right now.
Once things loosen up, there's the opportunity for people to step back, hopefully, but I really hope employers make the space for that to happen, rather than declaring pandemic over and trying to make everything go back to the way it was immediately. That might be the case for a few companies, but as a whole, they're going to try to pretend the whole thing didn't happen quickly while maybe providing some kind of "wellness" education that states you should take time off that they won't actually let you take.
posted by mikesch at 10:53 AM on April 19, 2021 [12 favorites]
I think they're ultimately rooted in the same place. I've seen it described as the result of unmet expectations with little hope of improvement. Cynicism may just be a symptom of burnout, rather than a cause at that point. Burnout for me has always been a sign that I've done what I can at a particular place and it's time for me to move on. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but I don't know of a ton of people on an upward trajectory who would classify themselves as "burned out", it seems to happen when you've leveled off or regressing, which naturally breeds cynicism.
Exhaustion from running yourself ragged is treatable, but the underlying stressors that made you run yourself ragged to begin with need to be improved or relief is temporary. Over the course of a career switching jobs becomes less effective if you feel you've leveled off as a whole.
The last year has been especially rough because there's been no reset of expectations or time away to re center yourself. For me, not being able to take any kind of time off longer than a weekend away somewhere within driving distance has been difficult. Pandemic stress in general adds a lot of overhead and people seem to be hitting the wall hard right now.
Once things loosen up, there's the opportunity for people to step back, hopefully, but I really hope employers make the space for that to happen, rather than declaring pandemic over and trying to make everything go back to the way it was immediately. That might be the case for a few companies, but as a whole, they're going to try to pretend the whole thing didn't happen quickly while maybe providing some kind of "wellness" education that states you should take time off that they won't actually let you take.
posted by mikesch at 10:53 AM on April 19, 2021 [12 favorites]
The last year has been especially rough because there's been no reset of expectations or time away to re center yourself. For me, not being able to take any kind of time off longer than a weekend away somewhere within driving distance has been difficult. Pandemic stress in general adds a lot of overhead and people seem to be hitting the wall hard right now.
Once things loosen up, there's the opportunity for people to step back, hopefully, but I really hope employers make the space for that to happen, rather than declaring pandemic over and trying to make everything go back to the way it was immediately. That might be the case for a few companies, but as a whole, they're going to try to pretend the whole thing didn't happen quickly while maybe providing some kind of "wellness" education that states you should take time off that they won't actually let you take.
These are such good points and something I've been personally struggling with. It's been clear I've been dealing with work burnout since last year (and, like, I have done pandemic on easy mode; I have a desk job and no children), but it's really unclear how to address it under current circumstances when work has been lurching directly from one fire drill to another (which is to an extent just what politics is ABOUT, but was definitely made so so so so so much worse over the pandemic), and you can't really unplug because you aren't supposed to be going anywhere and everyone knows it, piled on top of the increased level of legitimate need people have because of the pandemic, and the miasma of anxiety and despair we're all brewing in. It turns out the glue that was holding my mental state together in the before times was being able to look forward to travel to new or distant places completely off the clock from work, plus weekends with time to see friends and family, recognize holidays and events, and even smaller things like local festivals, markets, attractions. And all of that has been GONE for so long, and it's not clear exactly when it's coming back, so there's really not much to anticipate on anything resembling a timeline.
I work with a lot of really intensely driven people who have clearly channeled all of this into their work even more than normal over the past year, and have found some refuge from family conflict and worries about the world by throwing themselves into work projects at all hours of the day and night. I hit a wall and can't anymore, and the expectation that we all maintain that pace has been really difficult. We've had some official company "slowdowns" that weren't respected and taking time away has been almost impossible, since even if it's taken it's not honored. I fully expect that as we re-enter a new normal this fall, people are going to start having some serious consequences (or they will become visible, when they have previously been hidden). The center cannot hold, and I don't know how we dig out of this when everyone is probably going to have a crisis all at the same time. But I agree, it'll probably be met with platitudes and admonishments for personal responsibility for fitting self-care tasks into an overloadened psyche and schedule, just like it always has been.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:25 AM on April 19, 2021 [10 favorites]
Once things loosen up, there's the opportunity for people to step back, hopefully, but I really hope employers make the space for that to happen, rather than declaring pandemic over and trying to make everything go back to the way it was immediately. That might be the case for a few companies, but as a whole, they're going to try to pretend the whole thing didn't happen quickly while maybe providing some kind of "wellness" education that states you should take time off that they won't actually let you take.
These are such good points and something I've been personally struggling with. It's been clear I've been dealing with work burnout since last year (and, like, I have done pandemic on easy mode; I have a desk job and no children), but it's really unclear how to address it under current circumstances when work has been lurching directly from one fire drill to another (which is to an extent just what politics is ABOUT, but was definitely made so so so so so much worse over the pandemic), and you can't really unplug because you aren't supposed to be going anywhere and everyone knows it, piled on top of the increased level of legitimate need people have because of the pandemic, and the miasma of anxiety and despair we're all brewing in. It turns out the glue that was holding my mental state together in the before times was being able to look forward to travel to new or distant places completely off the clock from work, plus weekends with time to see friends and family, recognize holidays and events, and even smaller things like local festivals, markets, attractions. And all of that has been GONE for so long, and it's not clear exactly when it's coming back, so there's really not much to anticipate on anything resembling a timeline.
I work with a lot of really intensely driven people who have clearly channeled all of this into their work even more than normal over the past year, and have found some refuge from family conflict and worries about the world by throwing themselves into work projects at all hours of the day and night. I hit a wall and can't anymore, and the expectation that we all maintain that pace has been really difficult. We've had some official company "slowdowns" that weren't respected and taking time away has been almost impossible, since even if it's taken it's not honored. I fully expect that as we re-enter a new normal this fall, people are going to start having some serious consequences (or they will become visible, when they have previously been hidden). The center cannot hold, and I don't know how we dig out of this when everyone is probably going to have a crisis all at the same time. But I agree, it'll probably be met with platitudes and admonishments for personal responsibility for fitting self-care tasks into an overloadened psyche and schedule, just like it always has been.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 11:25 AM on April 19, 2021 [10 favorites]
I enjoyed this folklore724 just for spurring the thoughts for the different types of burnout. Thanks!
posted by storybored at 11:36 AM on April 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by storybored at 11:36 AM on April 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't know of a ton of people on an upward trajectory who would classify themselves as "burned out", it seems to happen when you've leveled off or regressing, which naturally breeds cynicism.
I am on an "upward trajectory" apparently but I desperately do not want to be, and as a result am fully and possibly irreparably burned out. If I could be allowed to level off or regress without losing my job (I'd even take the pay cut, I don't care, I just can't afford to have 0 income and no insurance) it would probably go a long way to helping, though.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:41 AM on April 19, 2021 [8 favorites]
I am on an "upward trajectory" apparently but I desperately do not want to be, and as a result am fully and possibly irreparably burned out. If I could be allowed to level off or regress without losing my job (I'd even take the pay cut, I don't care, I just can't afford to have 0 income and no insurance) it would probably go a long way to helping, though.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:41 AM on April 19, 2021 [8 favorites]
I read the article, and my issue with the way it presents the problem is (despite some quick reassurances that employers have a responsibility to prevent burnout) that it’s still very much focused on individual responsibility. Even saying the employer needs to take action to prevent burnout in its employees is shifting the responsibility from the structure of capitalism to individual employers. The problem is, even really good employers and organizations in a capitalist system have to follow, well, capitalist principles. And in the end, those are always anathema to the well being of workers.
So I don’t actually think the article really does anything but put the burden of relieving the symptoms of the disease (dis-ease) of capitalism back on...individuals.
The problem is STRUCTURAL. It needs a STRUCTURAL solution. Then and only then can people really address their “burnout.” Which, as basalganglia points out, in many cases is really moral injury.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:45 AM on April 19, 2021 [19 favorites]
So I don’t actually think the article really does anything but put the burden of relieving the symptoms of the disease (dis-ease) of capitalism back on...individuals.
The problem is STRUCTURAL. It needs a STRUCTURAL solution. Then and only then can people really address their “burnout.” Which, as basalganglia points out, in many cases is really moral injury.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:45 AM on April 19, 2021 [19 favorites]
I am on an "upward trajectory" apparently but I desperately do not want to be, and as a result am fully and possibly irreparably burned out. If I could be allowed to level off or regress without losing my job (I'd even take the pay cut, I don't care, I just can't afford to have 0 income and no insurance) it would probably go a long way to helping, though.Wow, you just articulated something I've been working on figuring out in my own head.
posted by erst at 12:12 PM on April 19, 2021
I really appreciate the comments here, which make me feel far less alone in my own experience of working in a field that experiences constant burnout/demoralization.
Having read both the article and the comments here, one of the things I think I detect going on in the article is that a lot of management-industrial complex types (aka virtually everyone who writes for the Harvard Business Review) kinda-sorta understands that they need to pay lip service to systemic issues after a decade+ of increased public discourse around white supremacy/misogyny/late-state capitalism/climate change, but they still default to individualist solutions because Management is gonna Management. If the people who dwell in the management-industrial complex had the imagination or the moral courage to deal with things collectively, they would have gone into being union organizers, not into being management. One of my friends once joked that business schools are the seminaries for capitalism, and that's very true for HBR.
You can see this in organizations that claim they are going to deal with systemic racism in their workplace, but then their go-to solution is to require every employee to attend training. Training is good, but it's not the same as looking at what management practices arise from the top of the hierarchy and prioritizing work on those - which really does bring up questions of systemic power that would require the management industrial complex to really look in the mirror more than delegating it to their employees.
posted by mostly vowels at 1:03 PM on April 19, 2021 [16 favorites]
Having read both the article and the comments here, one of the things I think I detect going on in the article is that a lot of management-industrial complex types (aka virtually everyone who writes for the Harvard Business Review) kinda-sorta understands that they need to pay lip service to systemic issues after a decade+ of increased public discourse around white supremacy/misogyny/late-state capitalism/climate change, but they still default to individualist solutions because Management is gonna Management. If the people who dwell in the management-industrial complex had the imagination or the moral courage to deal with things collectively, they would have gone into being union organizers, not into being management. One of my friends once joked that business schools are the seminaries for capitalism, and that's very true for HBR.
You can see this in organizations that claim they are going to deal with systemic racism in their workplace, but then their go-to solution is to require every employee to attend training. Training is good, but it's not the same as looking at what management practices arise from the top of the hierarchy and prioritizing work on those - which really does bring up questions of systemic power that would require the management industrial complex to really look in the mirror more than delegating it to their employees.
posted by mostly vowels at 1:03 PM on April 19, 2021 [16 favorites]
mostly vowels, would it be fair to say that Management values something if and only if it pays and promotes for it? Or demotes for the lack, I guess.
posted by clew at 1:31 PM on April 19, 2021
posted by clew at 1:31 PM on April 19, 2021
✓ exhaustion (a depletion of mental or physical resources)
✓ cynical detachment (a depletion of social connectedness)
✓ reduced sense of efficacy (a depletion of value for oneself)
Yesss hitting the trifecta over here
posted by Haere at 1:36 PM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
✓ cynical detachment (a depletion of social connectedness)
✓ reduced sense of efficacy (a depletion of value for oneself)
Yesss hitting the trifecta over here
posted by Haere at 1:36 PM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
Fucking Harvard
posted by treepour at 1:49 PM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by treepour at 1:49 PM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
Wow, that was an unhelpful comment I just posted. I'm sorry. The sentiment remains the same but dang, that was me being an angry jerk.
posted by treepour at 1:57 PM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by treepour at 1:57 PM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Let your crankiness flow
posted by thelonius at 2:00 PM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 2:00 PM on April 19, 2021 [7 favorites]
My first side-eye is cast to the assumption (as far as I can see, entirely unargued-for ) that exhaustion, cynical detachment, and a reduced sense of efficacy are a matter of "resources" that have been "depleted" and can be "replenished".
Yes, after the past five years, which have been very very hard personally and on a national scale, I feel more like a well that has run dry. You can't replenish a dry well - you can pour in all the water you want, but it will just seep away and the well still won't be a water source.
Much of my burnout with work is structural, I think. The work is repetitive and has become unrewarding, I am already tasked with helping people as my career and so helping more people isn't actually going to make me feel better, and almost no one offers encouragement, praise, or thanks. My employer is the largest in the county, but they have not provided any upward career paths, and moving around in the organization has always presented a huge pay cut for me because I have wrangled higher pay in my position. I also have a deep sense that many aspects of my institution are unethical and harmful. I should probably go find a job elsewhere, but I am only a year away from official retirement here, so I am holding on, although every day is painful.
I don't think meditation or small accomplishments (completing a workout?) or self-compassion can actually fix where I'm at after a year of the nonsense we've all been through.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 3:16 PM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yes, after the past five years, which have been very very hard personally and on a national scale, I feel more like a well that has run dry. You can't replenish a dry well - you can pour in all the water you want, but it will just seep away and the well still won't be a water source.
Much of my burnout with work is structural, I think. The work is repetitive and has become unrewarding, I am already tasked with helping people as my career and so helping more people isn't actually going to make me feel better, and almost no one offers encouragement, praise, or thanks. My employer is the largest in the county, but they have not provided any upward career paths, and moving around in the organization has always presented a huge pay cut for me because I have wrangled higher pay in my position. I also have a deep sense that many aspects of my institution are unethical and harmful. I should probably go find a job elsewhere, but I am only a year away from official retirement here, so I am holding on, although every day is painful.
I don't think meditation or small accomplishments (completing a workout?) or self-compassion can actually fix where I'm at after a year of the nonsense we've all been through.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 3:16 PM on April 19, 2021 [3 favorites]
I can't argue with the thesis that being burned out for a different reason means the solution is different, but ... that's really not much of a conclusion, and I don't think their description of the categories of burnout was particularly useful.
I do think the concept of moral injury is super relevant talking about burnout as well, and isn't nearly as talked about. I had never heard the term until a few months ago at a talk about burnout in medicine, and it made an immediate light-bulb go on in my head. It's not to the same scale as what can happen in healthcare, but it explained so much about the burnout I had from a job where I beat my head against the wall trying to fight cultural issues. There was something different about the combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and hopelessness it created versus the burnout of unmeetable deadlines or meaningless work.
posted by duien at 4:35 PM on April 19, 2021 [15 favorites]
we measured the impact of small acts of self-compassion among a sample of business school students during their highly stressful 10-day midterms periodIt is hilarious (aka infuriating) to me that they seem to have studied burnout by ... talking to college kids during exams? There is very little in common between the slow-burn loss of agency that is corporate burnout and the acute stress and exhaustion of exams. They are not even in the same neighborhood!
I do think the concept of moral injury is super relevant talking about burnout as well, and isn't nearly as talked about. I had never heard the term until a few months ago at a talk about burnout in medicine, and it made an immediate light-bulb go on in my head. It's not to the same scale as what can happen in healthcare, but it explained so much about the burnout I had from a job where I beat my head against the wall trying to fight cultural issues. There was something different about the combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and hopelessness it created versus the burnout of unmeetable deadlines or meaningless work.
posted by duien at 4:35 PM on April 19, 2021 [15 favorites]
There was something different about the combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and hopelessness [moral injury] created versus the burnout of unmeetable deadlines or meaningless work.
Yes, and after I had already been in the latter situation for some years, my company made some decisions that created the moral-injury condition as well. Add in the cynicism of watching them completely ignore the pandemic and its effects on their staff and honestly it really is as close as I've ever come to just fully psychologically snapping. Like, I'm not a danger to anyone, but I actually understand how murders happen now.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 4:52 PM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yes, and after I had already been in the latter situation for some years, my company made some decisions that created the moral-injury condition as well. Add in the cynicism of watching them completely ignore the pandemic and its effects on their staff and honestly it really is as close as I've ever come to just fully psychologically snapping. Like, I'm not a danger to anyone, but I actually understand how murders happen now.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 4:52 PM on April 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe, just maybe we could step back and admit that there is no higher purpose in work. Maybe we could acknowledge that we’re just people being people.
The way the human world works now is causing irreparable harm to the people in it and the environment they are part of. Maybe it’s not possible to arrange the human world to avoid all pain and harm. But I believe we could do better. I believe we could start with respect for individuals and autonomy. I believe we could demand equality for all people. I believe we could consciously try to balance our needs and wants against their cost to other people and the greater world.
But we can’t do any of this with the ideal of endless, gnawing, year over year capitalist growth. We will not eat ourselves better. We cannot lift up the would-be robber baron demigods high enough to ever sate their engineered desire for elevation.
Though everyone who lives and has ever lived and will ever live throw themselves into improving the bottom line, it will never be enough when more growth is the answer.
F*** burnout. I’ve been burned out for so many years.
The experience of damaging parts of yourself that can’t heal just to make it day to day, all because you are part of a system that demands your burn or be discarded, so we burn until there is nothing left, then wait numbly as ashes until we are swept into graves.
For what purpose? The world feels fluttery and top-heavy, propped up on the efforts of so many faltering individuals. Artificial scarcity keeps us all at the grindstone. I get nauseated when I think about it. It’s no different than medieval art of circles of flagellants striking each other again and again, prey only to the devils in their heads.
Until we believe that we are human first, and workers second, and that the way we organise to solve problems and achieve goals are simply methods and not doctrine, we will never sort this.
posted by allium cepa at 6:51 PM on April 19, 2021 [12 favorites]
The way the human world works now is causing irreparable harm to the people in it and the environment they are part of. Maybe it’s not possible to arrange the human world to avoid all pain and harm. But I believe we could do better. I believe we could start with respect for individuals and autonomy. I believe we could demand equality for all people. I believe we could consciously try to balance our needs and wants against their cost to other people and the greater world.
But we can’t do any of this with the ideal of endless, gnawing, year over year capitalist growth. We will not eat ourselves better. We cannot lift up the would-be robber baron demigods high enough to ever sate their engineered desire for elevation.
Though everyone who lives and has ever lived and will ever live throw themselves into improving the bottom line, it will never be enough when more growth is the answer.
F*** burnout. I’ve been burned out for so many years.
The experience of damaging parts of yourself that can’t heal just to make it day to day, all because you are part of a system that demands your burn or be discarded, so we burn until there is nothing left, then wait numbly as ashes until we are swept into graves.
For what purpose? The world feels fluttery and top-heavy, propped up on the efforts of so many faltering individuals. Artificial scarcity keeps us all at the grindstone. I get nauseated when I think about it. It’s no different than medieval art of circles of flagellants striking each other again and again, prey only to the devils in their heads.
Until we believe that we are human first, and workers second, and that the way we organise to solve problems and achieve goals are simply methods and not doctrine, we will never sort this.
posted by allium cepa at 6:51 PM on April 19, 2021 [12 favorites]
> I am on an "upward trajectory" apparently but I desperately do not want to be
I recently started a new job; when I saw the listing for the position I was being hired for, I was delighted to see that they were also hiring for the position above me and that I do not have the qualifications.
I ran into this frequently when I was a freelancer in the magazine industry -- well-meaning people would try to give me advice on how to be an editor, not understanding that the aspects of the job that I loved would all vanish if I moved up a rung. Please, just let me stay at the level I enjoy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:07 PM on April 19, 2021 [6 favorites]
I recently started a new job; when I saw the listing for the position I was being hired for, I was delighted to see that they were also hiring for the position above me and that I do not have the qualifications.
I ran into this frequently when I was a freelancer in the magazine industry -- well-meaning people would try to give me advice on how to be an editor, not understanding that the aspects of the job that I loved would all vanish if I moved up a rung. Please, just let me stay at the level I enjoy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:07 PM on April 19, 2021 [6 favorites]
Let me add a fifth distinct form of burnout to the three identified in the article (and the fourth, moral injury): compassion fatigue. Unfortunately I think neither self-care, nor comforting a colleague, nor further acts of compassion (ha!) can help one recover from this.
I can only guess that this one didn't come up in their study sample.
posted by heatherlogan at 8:46 PM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
I can only guess that this one didn't come up in their study sample.
posted by heatherlogan at 8:46 PM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
The second sentence issue is actually a really subtle piece of ideological manipulation, because it frames employers' benevolence and competence as the ultimate cause of working class problems. By bracketing that, then the piece never has to talk about capitalism as such, i.e., employees should at most demand better employers. But leftist literature (see: Disciplined Minds) has long argued that this strategy is incorrect, because replacing incompetent bosses with competent/benevolent/nice bosses nevertheless maintains capitalist class relations that materially affect and undermine the working class.
posted by polymodus at 11:00 PM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by polymodus at 11:00 PM on April 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
heatherlogan, I would put compassion fatigue under their exhaustion category (a depletion of mental resources).
posted by aniola at 8:16 AM on April 21, 2021
posted by aniola at 8:16 AM on April 21, 2021
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Take the example of social service workers in the article, for instance. Are they chronically burned out because they need a vacation? Or are they chronically morally injured because they have to witness -- and often be the face of -- the total inadequacy of a safety net riddled with holes that fails to meet even the basic human needs of the people it's meant to serve?
Because one of those problems has a corporate solution; the other really does not.
posted by basalganglia at 4:11 AM on April 19, 2021 [103 favorites]