For years, leaders have been conditioned to spot signs of burnout in their team: the frazzled look, the overload and overwhelm, the frantic pace that eventually wears people out.
But there’s another performance killer quietly spreading through workplaces—and it’s the opposite of what most leaders are bracing for.
It’s boreout. And it could be costing you thousands of dollars a year.
If burnout is a problem of “too much,” boreout is a problem of “not enough”: a lack of meaningful work, challenge, novelty, and growth. It’s disengagement caused by stagnation—a slow, silent erosion of motivation that’s easy to miss until it’s already infected a team.
And make no mistake: the cost of disengagement is massive, even for smaller organizations. That includes the checked-out employees who aren’t exhausted—they’re just bored-out.
So how do you spot boreout? And more importantly, how do you fix it?
When “Not Enough Change” Becomes the Problem
Being bored at work is certainly not a new problem. The movie “Office Space” became a cult classic for a reason—because it was so relatable.
But in today’s world, we tend to focus on the accelerating rate of change, lamenting that it’s all coming at us so fast, making it hard to keep up. We often frame Adaptability Intelligence (AQ) as a necessity for surviving the escalating complexity and rapid change. And that’s certainly valid—continuous volatility absolutely requires more resilience, flexibility and readiness than ever before.
But here’s the twist: People can’t adapt when there’s too little change.
Humans are wired for growth. Most crave novelty and stimulation. When those people never get to stretch—if there’s nothing new to learn, no new problems to tackle, or no fresh angles to explore—their Adaptability muscle atrophies. They don’t feel overwhelmed. They feel stagnant.
That’s where boreout takes root, and it’s especially problematic for high performers who need to feel challenged, like they’re making a difference and contributing to momentum and growth. When boreout takes hold, they’re usually quick to bounce, creating a huge loss for the organization.
Boreout Through the Lens of the 4Es Framework
The 4Es Framework gives leaders a simple way to pinpoint why stagnation is happening and clues on where to intervene.
● Energy Management: The Drain You Don’t See Coming
Energy isn’t just lost through overuse; it’s also lost through underuse. Like a pinhole in a swimming pool, it becomes a slow but steady leak that goes mostly unnoticed until it’s incredibly obvious. DISC data can reveal insights into when employees may feel stuck or more susceptible to boredom. A person with a high S may feel comfortable with a very steady, unchanging routine for a long period of time, but their coworker with a low S may become restless and agitated by the same conditions. Take a person with a high I who is energized through interaction with people and put them on tasks that require extended periods of isolation and their energy may collapse. Over time, that mismatch can drain them just as much as overwork.
● Engagement Activation: Motivators Have Misaligned
Motivators drive performance, but they also signal how fast someone may check out.
If an employee never feels like their work is meaningful, has purpose, or challenges them in a way that’s aligned with their Motivators, they can slip from “present” to “disinterested” fast. And typically, Engagement deactivates long before you see the performance drop.
● Event Response: Zero Challenge Means Zero Adaptability
Adaptability improves through exposure to friction or challenge, and just like a muscle, if it’s never tested or stretched, Adaptability will atrophy. If people never face new events, problems or stretch expectations, there’s nothing for their AQ to respond to. They stagnate. AQ data makes this visible long before the symptoms emerge, showing who’s under-challenged, who’s coasting, and who hasn’t flexed their Adaptability in months.
● Emotional Regulation: Apathy Is an Emotional Signal
Emotionally, boreout looks calm on the surface. No one’s freaking out, so it doesn’t draw attention. But beneath that quiet exterior is apathy, disconnect and loss of pride in one’s work, classic cues of sliding into the Danger Zone or a state of quiet quitting. A lack of emotional engagement is just as costly as emotional overload.
The Job-Hugging Link: Stagnation is as Risky as Departure
Job-hugging—when employees stay but mentally check out—has become a defining workplace trend. People hang on because they don’t want to lose stability in an unpredictable market, but they’re no longer energized by the work, the environment or the perceived lack of growth.
Boreout is often the root. Employees aren’t rebelling. They’re not overwhelmed. They’re not even unhappy in the traditional sense.
They’re stagnant.
And stagnant teams don’t innovate, improve or adapt. However, they do consume space and resources: silently sucking up a salary, and quite possibly spreading dissatisfaction among their colleagues. It creates a competitive risk that leaders often miss because everything looks fine on the surface. Meanwhile, they’re draining the organization, holding a seat, and potentially blocking others from attaining their own growth potential.
When the Problem Isn’t the People—It’s the Environment
Often the issue isn’t your team’s capability or attitude. It’s an environment that never changes, challenges or asks enough of them. Or, it keeps them tamped down with a lack of psychological safety that prevents them from stretching, trying new things or experimenting. So they don’t bother.
Assessing the AQ Environment dimension is especially useful here, revealing what aspects of your culture keep employees feeling under-challenged, under-supported, emotionally flat, cut off from learning or growth or stuck in low-stress, low-stakes situations.
Assessments Draw Boreout Out of the Shadows
If leaders are only looking for the burnout signals (stress, overload, frantic teams), they will miss this equally costly disengagement drift. Traditional engagement surveys won’t catch it. People often rate their roles or environments as “fine” because nothing is technically wrong.
But the 4Es-based assessments can root it out, because they measure what’s happening under the surface:
- DISC reveals energy stagnation. It identifies the behaviors that signal apathy.
- Motivators Map™ shows misalignment and dormant drivers. It reveals the mismatch between what lights someone’s fire and what’s actually happening day-to-day.
- AQme highlights the lack of challenge or growth opportunities by spotting low Adaptability signals in individuals and the environment.
- EQ uncovers emotional disengagement or apathy, which can be just as disruptive to growth as feeling overwhelmed.
Together, they paint a picture that leaders can’t get from performance reviews alone. They show when people are drifting into boreout, give clues as to why, and what kind of stretch or support they need with real data, and described with neutral nonjudgmental vocabulary.
Boreout Isn’t Laziness. It’s a Signal.
People don’t get bored because they’re lazy—they get bored from lack of stimulation and opportunity. And just like burnout, boreout is measurable, preventable, and reversible.
When leaders look beyond “who’s overwhelmed?” and start asking “who’s under-challenged or under-utilized?” they can spot the early warning signs that would otherwise turn into job-hugging, disengagement, or quiet quitting.
The cure isn’t offering perks or pep talks. It’s creating motivational alignment, opportunities for participation, stimulating challenges, right level of novelty and variety, and a culture that lets people stretch into an adapted state without overwhelming them.
If you suspect boreout—your team looks “fine” but you’re worried they aren’t firing on all cylinders—the 4Es-centered assessments can show you what’s really happening, and provide clues for how to address it.
Because in the modern workplace, stagnation is every bit as dangerous as overwhelm. Both can lead to apathy. And the companies that thrive will be the ones that can recognize both.
Give us a call today to see if boreout is sapping your competitive edge!