Do you fix your broken windows?

I recently worked with an exec that has a motto: No Broken Windows. As he walks around his office and sees a piece of trash, or a broken window, or whatever – he fixes it. Makes a big impression on his 500 employees.

The Broken Window Theory is actually based on social science research (pretty intriguing). It concludes that if a building has some broken windows, it leads to further damage and vandalism to that building and that neighborhood. Malcom Gladwell also mentioned research on it in The Tipping Point .

Why does this resonate? It got me thinking about the idea, “give an inch, they take a mile.” When I let something slip a little, it seems to slip much farther than I’d like. Exercising for instance, how easy it is to get out of the habit! If you leave a desk messy (I’m looking at mine as I write this), it sets a tone for the office – it’s OK to be messy.

And it’s fascinating to apply these ideas to leadership and communications.

We need to demand more of ourselves. We can’t allow any Broken Windows in communication within our companies and organizations. But making this change isn’t always easy. So much of the work we do at Decker is about changing how people come across both behaviorally and with their messaging. Frankly, it’s our job to make you uncomfortable so you can take risks and grow. Comfortable is a dangerous place to be, after all.

The number one resistance we hear from our participants is, “But, this isn’t the way it’s been done in the past.” Exactly! If we want change, we have to take some risks. What’s that description of insanity, again? Doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result? It’s become an accepted norm to have poor internal communications within organizations. Then they end up with more vandalism and broken windows, err… rather, more boring meetings and updates that don’t lead to progress or success.

Be aware of what’s happening within your organization. Ghandi’s quote is timeless: Be the change you wish to see in the world. It’ll feel risky, but as I tell many executives that run large organizations – you have to be the example.

Keep communications top of mind within your team. If you have the No Broken Windows attitude, you’ll start to change the culture around you.

I guess I’m going to go work out now…