Burnout Spiral (Maslach Model)

Christina Maslach's research reveals burnout not as a single event but as a self-reinforcing spiral with three interacting components: emotional exhaustion (depleted energy), depersonalization (cynicism and detachment from work), and reduced personal accomplishment (feeling ineffective). The spiral mechanism: exhaustion → reduced quality → reduced sense of accomplishment → increased cynicism → reduced engagement → more exhaustion. The critical insight most people miss: burnout is primarily an organizational problem manifesting as individual symptoms. Maslach identified six organizational drivers: unsustainable workload, perceived lack of control, insufficient reward, breakdown of community, absence of fairness, and values conflicts. The person who 'burns out' is usually the most engaged—apathetic employees don't burn out because they never caught fire. The spiral accelerates because the exhausted person's coping strategies (working harder, withdrawing from relationships, abandoning self-care) make every component worse.

When to use it

When exhaustion persists despite vacations and rest. When you notice growing cynicism about work you once loved. When your most engaged employees start disengaging. When turnover is concentrated among previously high performers.

How it can help

Reframes burnout from personal weakness to systemic problem, which completely changes the intervention. If it's personal: you need better self-care and boundaries. If it's organizational: self-care is a band-aid on a bullet wound. Maslach's six-factor assessment lets you diagnose which organizational factors are driving burnout. Prevention: (1) monitor all three components—exhaustion alone isn't burnout; it's the combination with cynicism and inefficacy, (2) address organizational factors first (workload, control, fairness), (3) build recovery into the system rather than relying on individual resilience, (4) watch for the early-warning sign: when your most passionate people become cynical, the organization is causing burnout.