Broken Windows, Broken Business: How the Smallest Remedies Reap the Biggest Rewards

This book was very interesting and could help anyone in any industry. I recommended it to a friend who owns her own boutique.

I have got to tell you that a book like "Broken Windows" is long overdo. There has been way too much focus on all sorts of secondary issues while ignoring the basics of running a business. This book clearly explains what I have long thought. It talsks again and again about how businesses lose their way by forgetting what really counts. Its stories about such companies as McDonalds and KMart should be case studies in every business school in the world. This book brings back common sense to the world of business books.

Traditional wisdom focuses on the 80/20 rule. Major in the majors. The problem with that thinking is the little things get neglected... and neglect, in any form, affects the organization in a downward spiral. Levine's premise is brilliant: What you pay attention to determines what you miss. If you only "focus" on the majors, you neglect the minors, and the neglect of the minors is a path to organizational demise. Essentially, Levine is "challenging" the 80/20 MBA B.S., and invoking a new mantra, which I will call the "100/0" rule... EVERYTHING MATTERS! Too many managers are trained, like dogs, to robotically look at spreadsheets, and number crunch, at a quantitative level... which, of course, numbers do matter. Levine's emphasis is to get beyond just the numbers, open your eyes, and LOOK, really NOTICE the details, because it doesn't matter what your current numbers show, if you are missing the big picture called CUSTOMER PERCEPTION! Quality doesn't show up in the spreadsheets, but, instead, it is reflected by what your customers are TRYING to tell you. Are you listening? Are you paying attention? I recently had an incident with Verizon. without going into details, they weren't listening to me. Instead, they were a "broken record" as to why I was raising my voice. All I wanted was to be treated like a human being. I wanted them to do what they promised me. They didn't. They didn't treat me with integrity. SO, guess what? I FIRED THEM! I now have a cable modem, VOIP phone service, and the peace of mind that comes from empowerment. Not listening to a customer is a broken window. Not acting with integrity is a broken window. All businesses have customers, and if you don't fix your broken windows, you may face a "customer mass exodus", and find yourself out of business! Verizon? Are you listening? This book has an important message. EVERYTHING matters, especially the details. If you are in ANY kind of business, I recommend you get this book immediately. What you pay attention to determines what you miss. Don't miss this book. Get it today.

A simple idea can go a long way, but this is a little bit of a stretch. The simple idea here is that small things matter. That's the concept behind repairing the "broken windows" in blighted neighborhoods. Conceptually, when criminals see a neglected building with busted windows, it signals them that here is a place where more serious crimes will be tolerated. The insight is clear: pay attention to details and fix flaws quickly. When this idea is applied to commerce, most businesspeople can catch on quickly, particularly given a few good case histories. Author Michael Levine deserves credit for squeezing the last drop of juice out of this ripe fruit, although impatient readers may lack tolerance for his repetitious counsel. Unfortunately, some examples seem oversimplified, such as ascribing Kmart's decline to bad customer service. Certainly, the overall advice is valid. Business owners must keep their physical plants attractive and train their employees well so their companies can thrive. We recommend sharing this book with a new employee or a beginner at customer service. Shore up that potential broken window before it ever starts to crack.

As I began to read this book, I was reminded of the assertion that "God is in the details." Some have credited it to Le Corbusier, others to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Whoever its source may be, the relevance to the contemporary business world is compelling. More about that later. In his Introduction, Levine notes that the "broken windows" theory was first put forth by criminologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling (in 1982) when explaining what a "broken window" is in criminal justice terms: a "signal" that if petty crimes such as graffiti and purse snatching are not dealt with in a resolute and timely manner, far more serious crimes will also be tolerated. According to Wilson and Kelling, "social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken." Why? Levine: "Because the message being sent out by [something seemingly as insignificant as a] broken window -- the perception it invites -- is that the owner of this building and the people of the community around it don't care if the window is broken. They have given up and anarchy reigns here. Do as you will, because nobody cares." Throughout his riveting narrative, Levine cites hundreds of workplace situations which send "signals that no one is watching." At least not consciously, perhaps, but many of them are absorbed and retained in the subconscious mind. As I was well into reading this book, I thought about the only local car wash which my wife and I patronize. The pricing is competitive. What differentiates it from its competition? Those who work there are friendly, the interior and exterior waiting areas are impeccably clean as well as well-lit, and most important of all, each of our cars is always thoroughly cleaned inside and out. One final point, just before the attendant waves her or his towel, the side windows are rolled down an inch or two so that no water line is left. An insignificant detail? Not to us. We also patronize the same local dry cleaner. Friendly people, competitive prices, pleasant public area, etc. What's the difference? No wrinkles (ever) on shirts and blouses pressed. Seams on pressed pants and trousers are also pressed to perfection. Always. Broken buttons replaced. Every one of them. No need to point out stains. They see them and remove them. Always. These are two personal examples, I realize. Hardly definitive or even representative of their respective industries. That's the point. All organizations have "broken windows" in one form or another. They are inevitable. Levine's key point is that organizations whose culture demands perfection in all operations and cordiality in all relationships will (a) minimize the number of their "broken windows" and (b) immediately repair those few which occur. No litter on the grounds. No dead plants in the lobby. No dimly-lit rooms. Most important of all, no toxic or incompetent people on the payroll. Almost ev