A lot of questioning goes on about whether the cause<\/em> of burnout lies rather within the individual or rather within his immediate environment, his workplace, his direct leader perhaps, or the broader environment: capitalism\u2026<\/p>\n With \u2018burnout society\u2019, I mean something even broader and deeper. This is a domain of rather intangible worldviews and cultural assumptions that themselves shape capitalism and the way we organize our organizations. It\u2019s about the Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish baker who bakes for his own profit\u2026 but even so, he does it with love<\/em> for the people who eat his bread. He does it for Mary and John. He does it for Wilfred and all the little children playing in the streets of his village. He does it for people and<\/em> because he himself likes<\/em> to do it for them.<\/p>\n People are the best motivators for people. Is that weird?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is not. Still, society \u2013 worldwide \u2013 is gradually forgetting the notion of people working for people. Instead, more and more, people are working for money. In a way, money is becoming more and more transparent. In many cases, it\u2019s not even material anymore. It\u2019s bits and data in a computer, in the cloud. It\u2019s transparent but looking through it, we still don\u2019t see people. We see something like \u2018abstract potential.\u2019<\/p>\n Thus people work for \u2018abstract potential.\u2019 And other people who work for them, also do not in fact work for them but for \u2018abstract potential.\u2019 Where is the person?<\/p>\n Even more: where is the individual, the un-divided person, in all this?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Each person is an immensely complex whole in body and mind. This is not without consequence. In order to be deeply motivated (= \u2018fueled\u2019) a person needs to be touched (mentally, heartily) within this complexity. It\u2019s not enough to be touched as if by a billiard ball. In fact, that\u2019s rather painful even if the billiard ball is merely metaphorical. To be really touched as a person<\/em>\u00a0much more is needed: another complete person \u2013 or at least another complex sentient being. It might be a pet dog for instance.<\/p>\n Fact is: if people are not touched this way, they are not fueled. And when they are not fueled, they burn out. Is that weird?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is not, of course. Yet a deep-lying tenet of the present society is that people are to be seen as commodities. They are \u2018rationalized\u2019 away in procedures, rules, and regulations. They are made abstract, like an \u2018X\u2019 as in: IF f(X) THEN \u2026<\/p>\n OF COURSE<\/em> there is a lot of burnout. It will only get worse this way.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Therefore, we should create another way. That, for once, would be a real creation: of a society in which the individual is really central. Not the me-too individual struggling for \u2018I\u2019 in frustration, but the in-dividual as an undivided sentient being who is eventually worth infinitely much, incalculable in cloudy money. We need a deeper currency, as well as a society that values this deeper currency.<\/p>\n We need a society that values \u2018people working for people,\u2019 embracing the currency of deep humanity.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Only a turnover towards such a society will make us all less prone to burnout. Does this seem impossible?… It might be, so, what are we waiting for? What are you<\/em> waiting for? Please let your voice be heard!<\/p>\n