From: David Gerard <fun(a)thingy.apana.org.au>
I vaguely recall workplace studies where changing
*anything* increased
productivity - it wasn't the new setting, it was the fact of change.
That would be the "Hawthorne effect:"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
"The Hawthorne effect refers to improvements in productivity or
quality which result not so much because of intended changes to
working conditions, but mainly because the workers are aware of extra
attention being paid to them."