“We have to keep talking about burnout in lots of different ways so that people listen. I don't think it is a problem that is magically going to go away because that high is always going to be a tempting thing to chase.”

Tom Houser, Executive Creative Director at ITV, is referring to the adrenaline loop of creativity. When you are constantly in thrall to the buzz of the next idea, turning your brain off is not always easy.

This is why he is committed to sharing his experience of burnout. He explained: “This isn't a buzzword, it is a proper affliction that really damages people, it damages them, it damages their families, their friends, their relationships, their career prospects and that's why I speak about it.”

In a thought-provoking conversation with Branding and Tone of Voice Expert, Vikki Ross, Houser shared that since he became open about his experience of burnout, he has been inundated with messages from others in the same boat.

Houser was appearing on A Word With… A new series of conversations with brand, marketing and creative leaders hosted by Ross.

The conversation underlined that there is no shame in burnout, but there is a huge amount to be gained by breaking the taboo that still surrounds sacrificing your soul in pursuit of creativity. 

“I don't think people do know a lot about burnout,” Ross added, sharing that she used to see burnout as people working late and complaining they had a horrible boss. 

She shared that last year, she didn’t take August off. She feels that not having the headspace that comes with taking a break may have contributed to her own burnout. “You can’t turn creativity off. It's wonderful when the headline comes to you at 3 am, but also, I need sleep,” she said.

Beyond burnout

In an industry where people are the most precious resource, Ross tabled the most important question for both organisations and individuals to tackle: “How are you protecting yourself from future burnout?”

“People don’t comfortably have this conversation and it's really important to do it,” Houser shared, adding that when you are in the business of commercial creativity, there is the natural adrenaline cycle of creating coupled with the additional pressure to do it on time. 

The uncomfortable tension is that people who love their jobs can easily get into a constant loop of chasing the next idea, the next win. All the while never feeling that they are doing quite enough, even when doing so much, you begin to feel disconnected from your own body.

An unhealthy constant productivity loop can easily morph into burnout. “It’s very easy to develop a dependency on it and do too much of it,” explains Houser.

Of course, not all overwork is created equal. Two people can experience the same workplace very differently. Yet as the conversation underlined, the singular truth is that creative leaders can do more to educate and safeguard their staff.

“There is such a responsibility as a creative boss. You have to protect people and teach people how to protect yourself,” says Houser. He continued: “To not put in place guard rails - to not do those things as a boss is hugely irresponsible.”

Houser shared his view that every positive attribute in the workplace can become a negative. He shared his own experience of giving too much of himself away to work. As a perfectionist, he ignored his friends and family and all the warning signs from his body.

Pointing to the everyday ‘release valve’ moments of a proper lunch break, holidays and sustainable working hours. His approach underlines that the cumulative impact of micro-moments to recharge can be the breathing space that sets you free.

“It is really easy to get swept up in the hype of what we do,” he said, sharing that he has shifted his mindset to aim for satisfaction every day.

No death for the catastrophic headline

Unless you have been sworn off the industry trade press for decades, the chances are that you are aware of the ongoing love affair with headlines declaring the death of any given medium or craft. TV, a medium which is arguably in a perpetual state of infancy with new talent, films, series, formats and platforms, has been at the sharp end of this negative hype cycle.

D&AD jumped on the bandwagon with a campaign opening with the provocation that ‘creativity is dead’. Proving the binary dead or alive approach is in fact so alive and kicking, you could call it a ‘rallying cry’ in a press release without flinching.

Ross questioned Houser on how he copes in a world that keeps telling us that TV is dead. He responded: “Personally, I hate that phrase, it's reductive and it's simplistic and I don’t think it's the way the world works.”

He pointed to the opportunity of change and evolution that is happening in broadcast right now as a moment that is both terrifying and exciting. 

As opposed to death, he describes entertainment as eternal. Sharing that ITVX is only three years old, he explained that the heat that comes with the challenge and change is actually something he loves. He deals with it by saying: “What challenge, how brilliant, rather than doom and gloom.”

“The ongoing ‘something is dead’ that is relevant to someone personally can get to people. It has got to a lot of people this year,” added Ross. “One of the narratives is that creativity is dead and is worrying a lot of people.”

She continued: “Creatives are very sensitive and having industry press shout this sort of thing at us every day – If you are not strong enough to know it is not entirely true or it looks different to the reality, you find it hard to cope.”

Houser shared how damaging these headlines are and how important it is to think about the effect on the people who work in the industry.

In place of the binary doom loop, Houser instead advocates for hope and positivity. “You need to find a solution, not just proclaim death.”

Addressing AI Anxiety

The thought-provoking conversation also touched on the negativity surrounding AI. Ross shared how her own strategy of sulking, ignoring and hoping AI would go away was not helping dissipate her own AI anxiety. She explained that ignoring the capabilities of AI was in fact making her nervous. “The reality is not adding up to the noise,” she added.

Houser shared that Gemini is embedded at ITV Creative and that the team is also exploring Runway. He believes it is important to step back from the hype and talk about AI in a much more human and useful way.

Noting that the anxiety around AI is for very valid reasons. He explained: “This isn't like anything we have experienced before. It's an industrial revolution style moment.” A shift which makes ensuring the right guard rails are in place around talent increasingly important. 

It also means moving away from binary narratives in which the rise of AI automatically equates to the death of something else. 

“Creativity is valuable, but creatives are vulnerable. We are very sensitive and quite insecure and we need looking after,” explained Ross.

“Creative ideas can do incredible things,” added Houser. A truth which means we must protect the people making the work.

In a wider industry narrative that increasingly feels like one long depressing doomscroll, the conversation underlined the enduring power of not only caring passionately about what you do, but caring about the people you get to do it with.