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A review by erikars
The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It by Jennifer Moss
3.0
This book starts out strong but gets weaker over time. The introduction and first chapter set out a strong foundation. The highlight how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated burnout, transforming it from a chronic issue into an epidemic. What I liked about the first part of this book is that it clearly frames burnout as an organizational concern with significant human and financial costs, not an individual problem. Burnout is a gradual process, not a sudden occurrence. Under chronic stress, our coping skills slowly erode.
Burnout is presented in the context of dual-factor motivation-hygiene theory. For people to be happy and effective, the organization needs to provide factors which both motivate and which prevent burnout. These factors are not opposites but rather independent. Often the people who are most motivated can be the ones most at risk for burnout. Empathetic leadership that sees burnout as a systemic problem is necessary to combat burnout.
There are six key factors that contribute to burnout. An overloaded workload is the most important contributor. Addressing this requires organizations to scrutinize actual workloads by clarifying expectations, leveraging strengths, providing training, and adequately resourcing projects. They should not resort to superficial solutions, which may simply postpone stress.
A perceived lack of autonomy can be reduced by reducing micromanagement and granting employees more autonomy over their scheduling and task execution. Burnout is exacerbated by a lack of reward or recognition; even when there's monetary recognition, the emotional toll of extra workload is often not recognized. When people have poor workplace relationships, they are less able to handle workplace stress. Leaders can create opportunities for meaningful connection. Burnout can arise from a lack of organizational justice , including bias, favoritism, and unfair policies which further increases the importance of leaders addressing injustice and inequity. Finally, a values mismatch can lead to burnout, so organizations should be honest about their lived values (even when it doesn't match the values they wish they have) and hire for people aligned with those values.
After the introduction and first chapter, the book gets a bit more scattered. It's not that the content is necessarily bad, but more that it feels like a grab bag of observations and techniques rather than an organized framework for addressing burnout. There are a lot of examples of things that worked in different organizations, but not much to help leaders build up a plan that is a good fit for their organization.
The author describes personality factors that can increase the odds of burnout – neuroticism, introversion, and perfectionism. Burnout is an organizational problem, but these individuals can be the canaries on the coalmine. Some industries are more prone to burnout, including medicine, education, and tech. I didn't like how the section on tech spent so much time focusing on women and burnout. Not because it was wrong, but because when burnout is framed as more of a problem for women, some people will conclude that the problem is women, not the organization burning them out.
Other chapters discuss how perks can be problematic if they reinforce the message that life should be all about work, give a detailed discussion of how and why to measure burnout, the importance of curiosity in leadership, creating a culture of empathy, and how leaders can take care of themselves.
Overall, I came away from this book with a "meh." The introduction and first chapter were a great framing of burnout as an organizational problem and its causes. However, the rest of it felt scattered. I came away it a bunch of ideas of things that might help with burnout, but not a clear picture of how to put them together build an organizational culture which reduces burnout.
Burnout is presented in the context of dual-factor motivation-hygiene theory. For people to be happy and effective, the organization needs to provide factors which both motivate and which prevent burnout. These factors are not opposites but rather independent. Often the people who are most motivated can be the ones most at risk for burnout. Empathetic leadership that sees burnout as a systemic problem is necessary to combat burnout.
There are six key factors that contribute to burnout. An overloaded workload is the most important contributor. Addressing this requires organizations to scrutinize actual workloads by clarifying expectations, leveraging strengths, providing training, and adequately resourcing projects. They should not resort to superficial solutions, which may simply postpone stress.
A perceived lack of autonomy can be reduced by reducing micromanagement and granting employees more autonomy over their scheduling and task execution. Burnout is exacerbated by a lack of reward or recognition; even when there's monetary recognition, the emotional toll of extra workload is often not recognized. When people have poor workplace relationships, they are less able to handle workplace stress. Leaders can create opportunities for meaningful connection. Burnout can arise from a lack of organizational justice , including bias, favoritism, and unfair policies which further increases the importance of leaders addressing injustice and inequity. Finally, a values mismatch can lead to burnout, so organizations should be honest about their lived values (even when it doesn't match the values they wish they have) and hire for people aligned with those values.
After the introduction and first chapter, the book gets a bit more scattered. It's not that the content is necessarily bad, but more that it feels like a grab bag of observations and techniques rather than an organized framework for addressing burnout. There are a lot of examples of things that worked in different organizations, but not much to help leaders build up a plan that is a good fit for their organization.
The author describes personality factors that can increase the odds of burnout – neuroticism, introversion, and perfectionism. Burnout is an organizational problem, but these individuals can be the canaries on the coalmine. Some industries are more prone to burnout, including medicine, education, and tech. I didn't like how the section on tech spent so much time focusing on women and burnout. Not because it was wrong, but because when burnout is framed as more of a problem for women, some people will conclude that the problem is women, not the organization burning them out.
Other chapters discuss how perks can be problematic if they reinforce the message that life should be all about work, give a detailed discussion of how and why to measure burnout, the importance of curiosity in leadership, creating a culture of empathy, and how leaders can take care of themselves.
Overall, I came away from this book with a "meh." The introduction and first chapter were a great framing of burnout as an organizational problem and its causes. However, the rest of it felt scattered. I came away it a bunch of ideas of things that might help with burnout, but not a clear picture of how to put them together build an organizational culture which reduces burnout.