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Burnout is a risk in many jobs, but especially those with high stress and high cognitive load.  Which encompasses most entrepreneurs, scientists and health care providers - to name just a few.

When people become burned out, they become exhausted, physically and emotionally.  They lose their sense of empathy and tend to depersonalize others through cynicism and sarcasm.  And they become less efficient and creative at what they do.

Burnout is also associated with increased rates of suicide, depression, divorce, substance abuse and heart disease.  Errors increase too, in part because burned out individuals rely on “habit memory”, where one acts reflexively, rather than “cognitive flexible memory”, where one examines and weighs multiple factors, and carefully plans before initiating action.

So burnout turns out to be a real problem for the innovation economy, for biomedical research, and for healthcare.

With this in mind, many workplaces are developing wellness programs to reduce burnout - including programs that emphasize mindfulness and meditation/relaxation.  At the same time, employers also need to value and validate the people who work for them, and to instill a culture of respect in the workplace.

In addition, employers need to look at the sources of the stress that leads to burnout.  These typically come from three sources.  First, frustration linked to over-expectations (one’s own or those of others).  Second, continued demands for performance, without the necessary resources to succeed.  Third, cognitive overload, extreme multitasking, emotional work, and other forms of “shadow work” (meaning unseen, unmeasured and unpaid tasks that fill your day).  Technology, with its ability to reach people 24/7, makes this worse - and makes it hard to disconnect or disengage.

To combat burnout, it's therefore critical that workers feel a greater sense of agency or autonomy - that is, the ability to make decisions for themselves, and to act with independence.  This means freeing them from time-consuming, rote tasks that eat up their time for little reward.  It also means making sure that workers have a sense of purpose (that what they do matters) as well as of mastery (that they are good at what they do, and have the skills appropriate to their tasks).

Stress and burnout are the enemies of innovation and well-being in the innovation economy, and demand creative solutions in the workplace, such as Mike Privitera’s Medical Faculty and Clinician Wellness Program at URMC and similar programs at other leading academic health centers such as Stanford.