If you’re exhausted by change but somehow keep volunteering for more, I have bad news: it might be you. Or, more precisely, your brain.
We like to think we’re rational professionals making thoughtful, strategic choices. Then someone announces a limited pilot or special task force and suddenly we’re throwing our calendars at it like it’s a backstage pass. This isn’t just corporate chaos, it’s psychology. The same patterns that pull you in IRL, show up when we chase novelty at work. Only now it’s dressed in a “change management plan.” Here’s what’s actually going on.
1. Scarcity = instant importance. People value what’s hard to get. At work, that’s the “invite-only” steering committee, the tiny pilot group, the one stretch assignment with only 2 spots.
2. Distance protects the illusion, because every new initiative looks flawless… clean swim lanes, crisp timelines, tasteful gradients. But in reality… fourteen conflicting priorities and someone crying in a hallway. Yet the further you are from the day-to-day impact, the more beautiful the idea seems. So, we fall for; the new system we won’t have to implement… the AI tool we don’t support… Distance keeps the fantasy safe until go-live, then it’s just another Tuesday (IYKYK).
3. Novelty doesn’t threaten your defenses. Yet. Because no one has seen you fail at them, so novelty lets you imagine:
“On this team, I’ll speak up more.”
“In this role, I won’t overextend myself.”
We love the idea of ourselves in new situations. It doesn’t poke at our existing fears of being too much, or not enough.
4. The chase feels like control, and our drives for love and fear dominate, so a new initiative offers all three… The fantasy of what this could fix + No FOMO or being labeled “not a team player.”
So you chase; lobby to be included, stay late to show commitment. But when the chase ends, fantasy collapses into maintenance.
5. New gives you a better story, and that’s the real addiction. New situations let you narrate:
“This role will be where my talents are actually recognized.”
“This tool will give us data clarity.”
Sometimes that’s true. Often, it’s just a high-budget sequel to the same plot.
So, do we actually need novelty? Yes. Without fresh experiences, SKILLS stagnate, NETWORKs shrinks, and KNOWLEDGE ages like unrefrigerated yogurt.
Novelty is not the enemy. Unexamined novelty is.
If you recognize yourself in this, try a different filter before jumping into the next “strategic initiative”:
-Does it stretch a SKILL, or just my calendar?
-Does it build/deepen a NETWORK I want?
-Is the ACTIVITY load sustainable?
-Is there new KNOWLEDGE here?
Because growth is choosing the right new things.
