For years, corporate wellness programs and leadership seminars have fundamentally misunderstood human motivation. The prevailing narrative treats dopamine as a dual-edged sword—a chemical that must be constantly triggered through gamification, high-stakes deadlines, and financial incentives to keep employees productive. When those employees inevitably burn out, dopamine is blamed as the culprit behind their lack of focus or their retreat into the mindless distraction of doomscrolling.
Dopamine is often treated as the cure for all things motivational in the internet influencer sphere.