Let’s talk about something no one wants to say out loud:
Your team is exhausted.
Not from the work.
From you.
Yes, you—the innovation-obsessed, transformation-hungry, future-focused leader.
The one who keeps calling for "bold thinking" and "disruptive ideas" like you’re ordering lattes. ☕️
This isn’t a rebellion against progress. It’s a cry for sanity.
Because innovation fatigue is real—and if you’re not paying attention, your best people are quietly slipping into survival mode.
When Innovation Becomes a Buzzword, People Tune Out
Let’s be honest: “innovation” has become a catch-all excuse for chaos.
Reorg? It’s to foster innovation.
Yet another new tool or platform? We’re innovating!
Monday brainstorms, Tuesday pivots, Wednesday hackathons? You guessed it—in the name of innovation.
But here’s the problem: innovation doesn’t mean constant change.
It means intentional, human-centered change.
Adam Grant warned us about this in his writing on motivation: When leaders overuse buzzwords and underdeliver on structure, teams lose their sense of focus and meaning. Instead of feeling inspired, they feel… scrambled.
Innovation Fatigue ≠ Laziness. It’s Learned Helplessness.
Think about it this way: you wouldn't sprint a marathon, right?
Yet many leaders expect teams to run at “hackathon pace” year-round.
Spoiler: humans aren’t built for that.
Brené Brown calls this out as a leadership failure. In cultures where clarity is absent, constant change breeds confusion—not creativity. And unclear expectations? That’s not just frustrating—it’s unkind.
When every project is “urgent” and every idea must be “breakthrough,” people stop pushing the edge. They go quiet. They give you their compliance, not their creativity.
They’ve learned it’s safer to ride it out than to try and keep up.
The Culture You Think Is Innovative Might Be Draining the Life Out of People
Simon Sinek reminds us that innovation doesn't come from taskmasters. It comes from trust-based responsibility.
If your culture equates speed with success, or worships busyness as a badge of innovation—you’re not building a creative powerhouse. You’re building burnout.
Here’s what your team really hears when you say “constant innovation”:
That’s not visionary.
That’s chaotic.
What Real Innovation Leadership Looks Like
It’s time to move from hype to health. Here's how:
🧭 1. Lead with rhythm, not adrenaline.
Innovation isn’t a crisis response. Build a cadence that includes reflection, recovery, and yes—rest. Great jazz musicians don’t just play notes. They master silence, too.
💬 2. Set boundaries around change.
Just like there’s a freeze date before code deploys, create boundaries around when and how new initiatives launch. Constraint is a gift, not a blocker.
🪴 3. Invest in psychological safety.
Want your team to take smart risks? Start by giving them room to feel safe saying “I need a pause” or “This isn’t working.” As Adam Grant puts it, motivation thrives when people feel seen and supported.
🛠️ 4. Measure energy, not just output.
If your team is delivering results but falling apart emotionally—you’re failing. Innovation success isn’t just what gets built. It’s who survives to build it again.
Innovation Without Sustainability Is Just Expensive Chaos
Want your team to be bold, original, disruptive?
Then give them the psychological space and structural trust to operate like humans, not machines.
Leaders don’t just set vision—they shape pace.
You get to choose:
Do you want to be the leader who builds a legacy of innovation?
Or the one your team talks about in therapy?
👉 Ready to build an innovation culture that energizes instead of exhausts?
Explore how Centered helps teams find their flow: