In this paper we explore the thesis that a threat to the vital interest of an entity, be it an individual or a group, will lead to forms of increased productivity. We argue for the hypothesis: Because threat was prevalent in the Hawthorne experiments, a closedown perspective is relevant for recontextualizing the Hawthorne Effect. We are able to provide refined and extended findings which are relevant to the productivity development under extreme conditions. Adding these findings to earlier knowledge, deepen our understanding of the Hawthorne experiments.