The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It

by Christina Maslach, Michael P. Leiter

This original and important book debunks the common myth that when workers suffer job burnout they are solely responsible for their fatigue, anger, and "don't give a damn" attitude. The Truth About Burnout clearly shows where the accountability often belongs ... squarely on the shoulders of the organization. Burnout is shown to be a sign of a major dysfunction within an organization, and says more about the workplace than it does about the employees. Written by Drs. Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter - leaders in the study of job burnout - The Truth About Burnout challenges the accepted thinking about burnout and focuses on how to describe, predict, and alleviate this problem. The authors give workers, managers, and company leaders guidelines and strategies for eradicating the underlying problems within an organization that are the true source of burnout. They propose a new paradigm for organizational health and offer specific prescriptive measures.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Social Work

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Juneko Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her observations about what can be so dehumanizing about many work cultures is spot on. However, her "solutions" are trivializing and inavertently blame the victim. Given the fact that many experts see little practical difference between depression and burnout, this is especially troubling. Dr. Maslach's strength is clearly scientific research rather than as a clinical practitioner.

[Maddelline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este bine că se discută despre acest fenomen (al epuizării) care a început să fie tot mai răspândit în zilele noastre

[Julien Sobczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true face of burnout in contrast to common misconceptions.

We hear the word burnout more and more. Too often. But even if the burnout has become commonplace in the workplace, it does not mean we understand it. I didn’t. I ignored I had probably experienced burnout in my career. I thought burnout was mainly an individual problem. I was clearly wrong.

Burnout results from a mismatch between who we are and what we do at work. The authors have identified six mismatches – feeling overloaded at work is logically present, just like a lack of control, reward, fairness, community, or conflicting values between us and our company. The “good” news is that we don’t need to satisfy all mismatches to present the three common manifestations of burnout – exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness.

This is not a recent book on the subject but burnout is not a recent problem. I find the book does a decent job to introduce burnout in context, from its origin to its recent proliferation. The authors clearly demonstrate burnout is not an individual problem, but a problem companies should address to their own advantage. Burnout is about the social environment and thus alerts us the productivity of the company is declining. Companies can use burnout to learn and grow better. For the employees. For the clients. And for themselves.

Any employee will benefit from this book, independently of his current state. You can use this book to understand burnout once the first manifestations has started, but I recommend you to read the book right now as a prevention before the downward spiral starts. This book will help you reconsider burnout under a new point of view, understand your partial role in the burnout equation, and avoid doubting about your skills whereas the problem is about the environment. I would like more people to read this book so that burnout could be discussed more openly in the workplace. After reading this book, I think nobody is immune to the mental exhaustion caused by burnout. Read this book or another one on the subject, but don’t ignore burnout.

[Wouter Zwemmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In de Industriële Revolutie werden arbeiders gezien als raders in een machine en waren arbeidsomstandigheden slecht. Gedurende afgelopen anderhalve eeuw is arbeid veel beter geworden. Tegenwoordig keert het idee van een bedrijf als een machine keert terug ten koste van het ideaal van veilig en gezonde werkomstandigheden en werk waarin mensen zich kunnen ontplooien en waarvoor ze redelijk worden beloond.

Het huidige klimaat
Veel bedrijven verdienen meer aan het verkopen van zichzelf dan aan onderzoek en duurzame groei. Hierdoor ontstond handel in bedrijven met geleend geld. Managen van schulden heeft dan hogere prioriteit dan een goed bedrijfsklimaat. Deze bedrijven ontlenen hun bestaansrecht niet aan de werkgelegenheid en prestaties die ze verschaffen; mensen dienen zich juist op te offeren voor het bedrijf en de financiers. De macht van deze bedrijven is meestal groter dan die van lokale of nationale gemeenschappen met als gevolg dat veel bedrijven hun productiemiddelen en banen naar lage lonen landen hebben gebracht. Die brengen hun kennis, expertise en infrastructuur op orde waardoor dat ook steeds meer mogelijk is. Vreemd genoeg profiteren de arbeiders in die landen nauwelijks, ze blijven arm. In rijke landen wordt arbeid steeds flexibeler met zzp’ers zonder voorzieningen aan de onderkant en in het midden van de arbeidsmarkt (chauffeurs, bouwvakkers, verpleegkundigen).

Ontwikkelingen
- Technologie: kost banen, maar maakt werk en leven ook beter. Creëert nieuw werk: email, it-systemen
- De-empowerment. Macht van vakbonden neemt af. Meer controle door management (micromgt), ook in zorg en onderwijs.

Zes factoren die leiden tot burnout
Het boek gaat uit van de volgende zes factoren die als soort kapstok door elk hoofdstuk lopen:
- Gevoel van overbelasting
- Geen zeggenschap over eigen werk
- Geen loon naar werken, te weinig erkenning
- Gebrek aan saamhorigheid, positieve band met andere werknemers
- Onrechtvaardigheid: geld belangrijker dan mensen, saamhorigheid etc
- Conflict tussen waarden: eisen aan werk conflicteert met eigen ethische normen.

Kenmerken van burnout
Burnout is een graadmeter van de wanverhouding tussen wat mensen zijn en wat ze moeten doen. Kenmerken van burnout:
- Uitputting (doorgeschoten energie, enthousiasme)
- Cynisme (tegenover betrokkenheid)
- Werk niet meer aankunnen (tegenover effectiviteit)

Oorzaken van burnout
Twee soorten oorzaken van burnout:
- De persoon
- Sociale werkomgeving
Burnout is het gevolg van een wanverhouding tussen persoon en werk.

Gevolgen van burnout
- Fysiek: hoofdpijn, stofwisseling, bloeddruk, gespannen spieren, vermoeidheid,
- Psychisch: slecht slapen, stress, angsten, depressie
- Misbruik alcohol en drugs
- Sociaal: thuis, familie, vrienden
- Werk: slechtere kwaliteit, minder output
- Aantasting van je persoonlijke levensstijl tot en met opgeven werk of carrière

Burnout wordt nog veel gebagatelliseerd door bedrijven en door mensen weggemoffeld uit schaamte over falen. De auteurs pleiten voor een grotere betrokkenheid bij werk en ‘gezonde organisaties’ op basis van economische én menselijke waarden.

Burnout is negatieve spiraal: cynisme en slecht werk roept negatieve reacties op etc

Druk
Vanuit het perspectief van de organisatie betekent werkdruk productiviteit. Idealiter levert effiency tijdwinst op die werkdruk verlaagt, in de praktijk komt vaak voor dat werkdruk juist stijgt. Naast werkdruk is sprake van druk thuis met kinderen, zorg voor oudere ouders, onderhoud huis etc; daardoor druk op work/life-balance. Is afgelopen decennia toegenomen. Mensen geven steeds meer vrije tijd en sociale relaties op voor hun werk.

Zeggenschap
Niemand heeft volledige zeggenschap over zijn werk, zelfs directeuren niet. Zeggenschap in organisaties is gedeeld, mensen moeten samenwerken. Het tegenovergestelde van zeggenschap is micromanagement.

Beloning
Mensen verwachten van hun werk geld, aanzien en geborgenheid. Prettig werk, je vakbekwaamheid vergroten met gewaardeerde collega’s is intrinsiek motiverend. Enerzijds groeiden salarissen niet mee met de economie, anderzijds treedt de overheid terug (marktwerking, gebruiker betaalt) waardoor mensen voor steeds meer zelf moeten betalen en koopkracht terugloopt. Door plattere organisaties nemen promotiekansen af. Door flexibilisering neemt inkomenszekerheid af.

Saamhorigheid
Door flexibilisering nemen persoonlijke relaties in organisaties af. Mensen worden beoordeeld op hun nut. Door reorganisaties vallen teams uiteen. Onderlinge concurrentie wint van saamhorigheid en teamwork.

Volgens de auteurs hebben mensen “(...) organisaties gecreëerd waarin ze kunnen samenwerken om doelstellingen te verwezenlijken die ze waardevol achten. (...) Het is niet verstandig organisaties over te laten aan de mensen die ze willen exploiteren om er binnen korte tijd zoveel mogelijk aan te verdienen. We staan voor de uitdaging de verantwoordelijkheid voor de organisaties op ons te nemen, niet eraan te ontsnappen.”

Aanpak volgens Maslach en Leiter
De auteurs beogen een driemaal dubbele aanpak:
- Gericht op individu én op de organisatie (groep)
- Curatief én preventief
- Negatieve invloeden verminderen én positieve versterken

Dit is een sociaal proces:
1. Individueel: begint bij het individu, wordt een groepsproces, de organisatie krijgt ermee te maken, de wanverhouding wordt beïnvloed
2. Organisatorisch: begint bij management, wordt een organisatieproject, mensen krijgen ermee te maken, de wanverhouding wordt beïnvloed

Noodzakelijke voorwaarden:
1. Inzicht in de 6 wegen die tot burnout leiden
2. Vermogen om samen te werken
3. Toewijding en doorzettingsvermogen

Beoogde uitkomst is betrokkenheid: energie, inzet en effectiviteit.

De organisatie-route begint met luisteren naar de medewerkers: medewerkertevredenheids-onderzoek. Onderwerpen:
- Missie en doelstellingen
- Mate van centraal management
- Aard van supervisie
- Communicatie
- Waardering van prestaties
- Gezondheid en veiligheid
Burnout-meetinstrument: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

Redenen om burnout tegen te gaan als organisatie:
- Financiële impact
- Ethiek: menselijke waarden en normen prioriteit geven
- Lange termijn bijdrage aan ontwikkeling en levensvatbaarheid van de organisatie.

Betrokkenheid
Zes wegen naar betrokkenheid, naar meer harmonie tussen mensen en hun werk (tegenhangers van de zes bronnen van burnout):
- Hanteerbare werkdruk
- Keuzevrijheid en zeggenschap
- Erkenning en beloning
- Gevoel van saamhorigheid
- Eerlijkheid, respect en rechtvaardigheid
- Zinvol en waardevol werk

Twee uitdagingen:
1. Harmonie creëren tussen persoon en werk, die leidt tot
2. Verandering van werkomgeving én van mensen.

Aanpak hangt af van:
- De aard van het werk
- De kenmerken van organisatie en team
- Externe factoren die op de org van invloed zijn

[Caryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indictment of American corporate management and yes, we've all been there. In some ways the vaildation here is comforting but in most ways, it is not, largely because the solutions posed - and yes there are apparently solutions - are just not practical in some work settings. The author presupposes that there is unity among the ranks and that all workers have the courage to not roll over and accept the miserable status quo. Sadly that is not the case.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.preobremenjenost... preveč v prekratkem času s premalo sredstvi
2.pomanjkanje nadzora... ljudje si želijo priložnosti, da izbirajo in se odločajo, da razmišljajo o problemih in jih rešujejo ter imajo nekaj vpliva na rezultate za katere bodo odgovorni
3.nezadostno nagrajevanje... denarna in notranja nagrada, ko se s ponosom zaveš, da delaš nekaj pomembnega in dragocenega za druge
4.odsotnost trdne skupnosti... ljudje izgubijo pozitivno veznz drugimi v delovnem okolju. Ljudje se osebnostno razvijajo in delujejo kakovostno, kadar delijo hvalo, ugodje, srečo z drugimi, ki jih imajo radi in jih spoštujejo. Včasih delo, tehnolohija izolira. Najbolj je razdiralen kroničen in nerešen konflikt. Delovno okolje zastruplja svfrustracijo, jezo, strahom, napetostjo, zaničevanjem in sumničenjem.
5. pomanjkanje poštenosti... poštenost v službi se kaže v izkazovanju spoštovanja, enakomerni obremenjenisti in plačilu, ocenjevanju in napredovanju.
6.konflikt vrednot... zahteve v službi in osebne vrednote
6 področij organizacijskega življenja (obremenjenost z delom, nadzor, nagrajevanje, skupnost, poštenost in vrednote).
Občutek za lastne interese vzpodbudi druge, da na prvo mesto dajo svoje interese in s tem postane organizacija razdrobljena. Delavci na enem področju ne razumejo stališč in motivov svojih kolegov na drugem.področju.

[Cami · Rating 3 out of 5]

As relevant today as it was in the late 90s when written. Maslach reframes burnout from an individual shortcoming to an organizational issue of mismatch. She proposes the opposite of burnout is not necessarily enjoyment but engagement. The six areas of possible mismatch include sustainable workload, feelings of choice and control, recognition/reward, sense of community, fairness/respect/justice, and meaningful/valued work. While she proposes organizations care more about their human value, she does not neglect the economic incentives of the organization. She connects the financial costs of burnout and why organizations should care. I was reminded that at their best, organizations allow us to do what we could ordinarily could not do alone. However, that does not mean they're always functioning in that way. Would recommend for anyone who has experienced burnout or has been disillusioned by the disconnect between stated values and practice.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main argument in this book is to treat burnout not as a personal issue but as an organizational and work environment one. So, the remedy for burn out is not for someone to take some time off or telling them they need to be more resilient.

The burnout symptoms is also useful in order to lookout for them :

- increased cynicism at work
- inability to feel an ability to accomplish anything
- physical exhaustion.

This has helped me have better discussions at work around burnout.

This reminds me of the lessons from Deming where most work issues are not around employees but more around management and system effectiveness.

[Nathan Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is 20 years old and still is pretty relevant since most of the problems with companies that grow are people-related rather than whatever unique challenges of the business sector they are in. It was very dry and kinda hard to push through though.

[Mrs C · Rating 5 out of 5]

The observations despite being published in 1997 are still spot on. The 6 “mismatches” are particularly interesting and sound. The solutions are dated and not perfect but it’s a start. I hope there could be an updated version of this for the gig economy.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The basic premise makes sense, but reading the full book isn’t any better than listening to the authors on a podcast/interview. I skimmed the book but wished I’d have just relistened to the podcast that first interested me in the book.

[Matthew Castillo-Kohlenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great starting point for organizations battling staff disengagement and burnout. Material is surprisingly current given how old it is.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful for establishing the problem of burnout in our current market and indicating some approaches for change.

[Sara Stefanoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Letto per la tesi)

[Jessica Crouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straightforward analysis of burnout. Slightly depressing considering it was published in 1997 and the general work culture climate seems to be getting worse not better. Could be a useful resource.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book that, well, tells the truth about burnout. For those of you who don't know, "burnout" is basically what happens to workers who lose passion for their work and accordingly both they and their work suffer for it. Maslach and Leiter do a good job to explain burnout in simple terms with some helpful examples. They also separate burnout from clinical issues, such as depression, and personality issues. Over and over again they emphasize the crucial role of a good fit between worker and job, and moreso the organization forces that affect it (that is, such issues the worker experiences cannot rightly be blamed on the worker). They highlight six major causes of burnout: work overload, lack of control, insufficient reward, breakdown in community absence of fairness, and conflicting values.

What I liked:
The authors take a balanced tone throughout the book. They don't attack management as evil-doers trying to wring every drop of joy and effort out of helpless clock-punchers. Instead they do a thorough job explaining the common misconceptions about burnout and why "It's a problem of the individual [worker:]," is both wrong and counter-productive. Furthermore, they explain the many effects that burnout has through departments and entire organizations. Basically, when people become disengaged from their jobs, quality decreases, people job contributing any more than they must, suspicion and hostility increases, medical and mental health expenses increase, sick days increase, cynicism sets it, and monetary reward more and more becomes the main reason to work. The authors provide several examples to illustrate cases. I liked information in the appendix about the burnout measure that Maslach developed, but I would have like more detail and explanation (at it seems central to the whole book).

What I didn't like:
Déjà vu. At first this book was really interesting, but after the first, say, 30 pages I got the feeling they were repeating themselves. By the end it felt like I was force-feeding myself the same leftovers I'd been eating for the past week. Do they explain what burnout is, show why it matters, and illustrate how it all ties together in clear examples? Yes. But they took 169 pages to do a job that could have taken about 30. By the end it just felt like the same stale mush you find in any standard school giant text book. No flavor, no spice, no urge to turn the page except to make sure you didn't miss anything. This book could have used more focus. They should cut down all the tedious redundant passages, I think put in there for emphasis. It only takes one paragraph and one clear cut example to make the case for a good fit between worker and role, or for fairness in the workplace, of for conflicting office values, or for work overload, etc.

Furthermore, the examples they use do make the point, but they are so stale and watered down with soft language that it takes the bite out of the experience. For example, on page 54 they use the example of Jane the researcher at a university who gets screwed out of her guaranteed research space for her lab; she later finds out that her space was cut to entice a new professor to the program, and furthermore that, contrary to assurances by the dean, among the researchers she was the only one to have a space reduction. The dean approved this because "he had assumed that Jane, being such a nice person, would not be as upset as some of the other professors might have been about losing lab space. Quite the contrary, Jane was furious about the unfairness of it all. Her expectation of fair treatment had been violated, she had not been treated with the same respect as the other professors, and she had been lied to by her superiors." Well, where I come from "quite the contrary" is not the first thing that comes to mind - more like seething rage. I feel like the authors didn't want to come across with too strong a stance in case the offend someone or, God forbid, come across like socialist reformers. Understandably so, but this spiritless and appeasing approach doesn't work either.

So in sum, less talk more rock. For the second edition I hope they whittle this down to about 30 pages, take a stronger and still balanced position, use more lively examples and more interesting language, illustrate cases where people failed to manage burnout (largely neglected in this book), and give more of a background in terms of labor and worker relationships. I think the book would lose it's focus if it wander off into issues with labor unions, advocacy, and the labor movement, but the issues are so closely and importantly related it would be nice to see them tied neatly together.

[Robert Bogue · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s rare that I choose to take a contrary view to what an author (or set of authors) says in their book. However, I did when I started digging into The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. It’s not that I don’t think that organizations have a role to play in helping their employees avoid burnout – or recover from it if they get there. That’s not the issue. I believe that employers are responsible to their employees for good working conditions, and getting the most from employees means helping them be their best in life.

Click here to read the full review

[Georgi Danov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is very nice blueprint of the modern working place and organization. The cases presented are short, but spot-on, the explanations are excellent.

The author (professional psychologist, not journalists) stresses repeatedly that stress and burnout is not personal problem and must be addressed holistically.

I skipped the second half, as it's outright utopian and naive according to my experience. Or I am way too disillusioned.

Excellent read for people feeling friction at the workplace and losing confidence in their judgment and values.

[Leslie Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maslach is the expert all the other experts turn to. If you are suffering from burnout yourself or if you're a manager of employees heading down this awful path, read this book. Maslach's research is extensive, but this book is a quick, practical read. You will get chills as you see yourself in her examples. There aren't many books that completely change my way of seeing the world, but this one did. Must read.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Maslach has a fresh attitude about burnout that is helpful. She blames the organization entirely, but in her solutions, she says it starts with the person. The assumptions are still that agencies are reasonable places... Ha