> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.changeout.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # We're going to need a bigger canary - URL: https://www.changeout.org/were-going-to-need-a-bigger-canary/ - Published: 2026-10-30T10:06:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T10:06:01.000Z - Description: Roles removed one by one, impossible workloads blamed on the person. What Freudenberger and Maslach tell us about burnout and who is really failing. - Author: Lucy Caldicott - Tags: blog I've been making a series of videos called [Road to 2027](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJZ1UwrO1zKU&si=6tMNjWygLfik-Yn8&ref=changeout.org) designed to help people plan for a different/better new year. I've always been a reluctant planner, but as there's increasingly more of my life behind me than there is in front of me, not having a plan feels like a luxury I can't afford. I am trying harder to make sure the things that are important to me happen. Maybe it would be fun to make a video of me working through the practical tools that I share in the videos on myself for my own future plan? On that note, in 2027, I'm hoping to do more public speaking. I've got one on burnout booked already. [Let me know](https://www.changeout.org/work-with-me/#speaking) if you'd like me to speak at your event on the topic - or anything else! I've written before about a psychologist called Herbert Freudenberger who [published a paper in 1974](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x?ref=changeout.org) about something he'd observed among the volunteers at a free clinic for drug users. They were committed to their important work, but also exhausted, cynical, and dreading work they had once been keen to do. He named it burnout, and was the first person to name this phenomenon. I find it fascinating that he didn't first see it in a bank or a call centre. He saw it in people working our of passion for a cause, in an under-resourced place, with increasing unmet need. If you work in the charity sector, you will recognise this. A few years later, a social psychologist called [Christina Maslach began writing about burnout too](https://www.apa.org/members/content/burnout-research.html?ref=changeout.org), and she has spent the decades since asking why this happens to people. Her answer, developed with Michael Leiter, is that burnout is a mismatch between a person and their work, and that it shows up in six areas: workload, control, reward, community, fairness and values. Six features of the job and the organisation, rather than issues of resilience or mindset within the individual. In 2019, the World Health Organisation listed burnout in the International Classification of Diseases as an occupational phenomenon rather than a medical condition. Her approach has been described as a case against finding sturdier canaries to send down the mine, when the problem is the air. Nobody needs a bigger canary. We need to fix the mine. --- It's the last chance to join The Changing Room community as a founder member, free for the first three months. The Changing Room is an online space to share difficult workplace stuff with peers who understand. I'm running drop in Q&A sessions twice a month and there are active conversations going on in between. I'm also planning to share my Youtube videos in there too so you can watch them without ads. I've put some more info about it on my web site [here](https://www.changeout.org/changing-room/). We've got more people joining and sharing every week so do join soon if you've been thinking about it. To take advantage of the founder member offer, make sure you join via [this link](https://changing-room.circle.so/join?invitation%5Ftoken=2d6c60e95a602520b857bc872abf02ea3888e074-8872725b-1ce7-41ba-aa68-3bb48a6e392d&ref=changeout.org). --- **What am I reading? 📚** An [interesting read](https://hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/wellbeing-news/burnout-drives-workers-to-value-balance-over-pay/386709?ref=changeout.org) about UK charity workers valuing worklife balance over pay **What am I watching?** 👀 [New BBC Series Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David OlusogaDavid Olusoga explores our most comprehensive picture yet of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its role in the making of Modern Britain![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/57/d9/57d97f92-56a7-4c97-8c12-ac77d809cbf1/content/images/icon/favicon-770dfa2c-3282-449f-ab8a-acf5ccc5dbfd.ico)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/57/d9/57d97f92-56a7-4c97-8c12-ac77d809cbf1/content/images/thumbnail/p0p7qvr3-be948002-d510-4e59-be40-d0def330b879.jpg)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/new-bbc-series-finding-britains-slave-traders-with-david-olusoga?ref=changeout.org) **Joy-giving things? 😍** I love that Raye won the Mercury music prize this year. I also love that she wrote this song for my newsletter 😀 Have a good weekend, wonderful people Lucy --- *I've been writing regular blogs since 2020\. If you want to have a look at my back catalogue, they are all* [*here*](https://www.changeout.org/tag/blog/)*.* *If you're wondering whether coaching might help you think through where you are and where you're going next,* [*I'd love to hear from you*](https://www.changeout.org/work-with-me/#one-to-one-coaching)*.* *You can also find me on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/lucycaldicott?ref=changeout.org)*,* [*Threads*](https://www.threads.com/@lucycaldicott?ref=changeout.org)*, and* [*LinkedIn*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucycaldicott/?ref=changeout.org)*.* *🎬🎬🎬* [*YouTube*](https://www.youtube.com/@LucyOnLife?ref=changeout.org) *🎬🎬🎬* If you like what you read and you'd like to show your appreciation in cash, you can do that [here](https://ko-fi.com/changeout?ref=changeout.org). I'd be very grateful!