CRINGE ALERT! 😬 Harvard Business Review Got It Wrong
The Two-Minute Burnout Check Up Is Outdated.
Oh boy, where do I even begin with this cringe-fest? Harvard Business Review really missed the mark with their “Two-Minute Burnout Check Up,” and it shows.
The fact that this instagram post got 13.6K likes and over 100 comments is both hilarious and depressing at the same time.
First of all, let’s talk about the “tracker” itself. It’s based on the same six causes of burnout that HBR already posted about in 2019, and there’s nothing new or groundbreaking about it.
In fact, there’s plenty of peer-reviewed research on these six causes, so why do we need HBR to regurgitate it for us in 2023?
The author suggests that you write down how much stress you experience from each of the six factors on a scale of 0 to 10.
What? 😬
How are you supposed to accurately assess your stress level on a scale of 0 to 10?
It could potentially work for workload stress but how can you assess your stress on a scale of 0-10 for values, reward, control, fairness, and community?
Especially when you’re in a state of burnout?
It’s ridiculous!
And let’s not forget the outdated paper-format and the fact that The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is not cost-effective.
Even if the MBI was free, a burned out individual is not likely to take the assessment and answer all those questions.
They can barely remember to put on socks!
(true story fam!)
But the worst part of this whole thing is that there are no strategies provided for burned out individuals. No mention of neurodiversity, personality, or workplace factors.
This a half-assed attempt to assess your burnout and then send you on your merry way.
This may have been “okay” in 2019 but not in 2023!
“Try making a list of all the activities your job entails. Pick three that let you contribute most to your team. This is your core work. From here, consider meeting with your boss or team to clarify what’s truly important and see if there’s a way to delegate or eliminate some of the tasks, and as a result, reduce your overall stress.”
Sorry, HBR, 3 is not the number of core work most high-performing individuals are currently doing at their jobs.
Dr. Ty McKinney, a neuroscientist, also sees the flaws in this approach. He agrees that survey methods can be efficient and cost-effective track burnout.
“However, most surveys are designed with WW2-era technology (printed paper) in mind, which is prone to a lot of bias and little way to correct it. In the age of the internet, there is no reason why people should be asked to score their own questionnaires.. At 8 Bit Cortex, we use gamification to design surveys that are fun and insightful for the participants and our AI delivers personalized content to support your wellness goals.”
He’s absolutely right!
There’s no reason why people should be asked to score their own questionnaires in this day and age when there is a better way.
In conclusion, the “Two-Minute Burnout Check Up” is a joke.
It’s outdated, arbitrary, does not add value to burned out individuals in 2023 and is not a “helpful addition to your toolbox of mental resilience strategies,”
We need equitable solutions and technology, better prevention and recovery strategies to combat burnout to create healthier workplaces.
And if you don’t believe us, try a better free 3-minute burnout tracker that actually works.
Or go ahead and try HBR’s burnout tracker if you want to waste your time.