The Danish government has begun paying compensation to women who have developed breast cancer after long spells of working nights.  This follows the ruling by the UN agency, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which ranks night working just one level below working with known carcinogens such as asbestos.

This is a nasty shock for the women who have selflessly sacrificed their night’s sleep to work in this way and must be very frightening.  Apparently disrupted sleep patterns interfere with the production of melatonin, which helps suppress cancer.

So often we seem to find that when we interfere with our natural patterns, drives and rhythms there is a price to pay.  It is important that wherever possible, that business systems honour and utilise these more natural forces rather than trampling over them.  I think that the 21st century workplace needs to get much cleverer about creating more harmony and more sensitivity.  This is one of the more demanding challenges for today’s leaders, because it isn’t covered anywhere in the current tomes and tracts on how to do management!

I’d love to hear of any examples of people or businesses doing this.

“Everything has rhythm. everything dances.”   Maya Angelou

“Rhythm is the basis of life, not steady forward progress. The forces of creation, destruction, and preservation have a whirling, dynamic interaction.”   Kabbalah

PS>> Following this blog I was called by the BBC and invited to discuss this on air, on the World Service program, World Have Your Say.  Listen to the podcast here.  I’m on twice once after about 34 min

Resources:  BBC Story