The Burnout Epidemic

Introduction

The Burnout Epidemic

Let’s quickly try a simple reverse Rorschach test. I’ll write the word. You come up with an image.

Burnout.

When you see that word, do you envision one of those gray-washed stock images of a guy resting his head in his hand as he gloomily stares at his blank computer monitor—stacks of paper piled up on either side?

Perhaps you imagine a single match with its flame recently snuffed out—smoke snarling upward, then dissipating into the black?

Do you picture a harried mom carrying three bags of jam-packed groceries while multiple kids tumble out of the van—each one sporting a different uniform?

Maybe for you, burnout looks like some Seth Rogan–type character who’s parked on the couch at two in the afternoon, lighting ...