You can hear it in the tone of meetings. See it in disengagement. Feel it in the absence of energy. Rust-out leaves people feeling understimulated, disconnected and just going through the motions.
The most powerful thing to offer employees and leaders right now isn’t another productivity tool, it’s experience that breaks the “rust” and frees them from the chains of their daily office routine, asserts Peter H. Bailey.
Source: Fast Company, June 10, 2026. Link. Burnout is often equated with overwhelm but rust-out is far more common and not just related to workload. To cure rust-out, teams need an infusion of new energy and challenges that help them work differently.
When someone in your office says “same shit, different day” that’s rust-out, and it’s contagious.”
Image: Link.
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