Just a line of thought

Lets imagine a hypothetical study is published that shows lightboxes increase productivity during winter. The measure was the increase in the number of calls and the quality of calls (measured using mystery shopper calls) from the same time the year before and there was a control group. The study was conducted over a twoyear period which made it more difficult because of the high turnover of call centre staff that meant that a 1000 advisors had to have light boxes on their desks to get complete information on 500 of them. The study showed an increase in the number of calls taken but was inconclusive on the quality of the calls.

This study was well publicised and many businesses saw the opportunity to inexpensively increase productivity with a modest investment that quickly paid for itself over time. Across the UK and in the US more and more businesses fitted light boxes as standard and ran them over the winter period. Subsequent studies confirmed the increase in productivity. The mental health campaigning fraternity saw it as a way to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder and their became a national requirement for all workplaces to ensure that lightboxes were fitted.

A decade afterwards new data arose. Comparisons were done including the summer months and over a five year period. It was found that annual productivity went up at the start of the use of lightboxes but started an evermore rapid decline over five years. At the end of the five year sampling range annual productivity was lower than at the start when no lightboxes were being used.

Not wanting to U-turn the government ignored the new data and said more data was needed. Another decade passed. Some people had started to switch off their lightboxes but many didn't see the research. Many who read it dismissed it because it was regarded as poor quality and there was no funding to run a high quality study.

Three decades after the introduction of the mandatory lightbox in the workplace a shocking study was published that looked at life expectancy. The researchers were looking at life expectancy by job type across the world. In the US and the UK, and in other countries where the lightbox was adopted enmasse, life expectancy was reduced. The strongest indicator was the change in life expectancy was due to lightboxes was the comparison with the life expectancies of those who worked outside the office. Their life expectancy had risen dramatically as would be expected over a thirty year period whereas office workers' life expectancy had stayed constant though had been rising faster than the average before the introduction of the lightbox.

This is just a boring story about unintended consequences of the things done for productivity and preventing mental illness. There's a moral in there somewhere. I'm not sure what it is.