Research: Broken WIndows Theory

My day job allows me to encourage and foster continuous process improvements throughout the organization.  In my day-to-day interactions never a week goes by when I am not reminded of the “Broken Window Theory of Crime.” For those not familiar with it, it goes like this:
 
“A window is broken in a neighborhood. For some reason or other, the owner of the property decides not to fix it. Citizens pass by and see the broken window, which represents that the owner, and community as a whole, does not care about their home and community. This then breeds a tendency to break societal norms and before the community knows it, vandalism and other crime is rampant.”
 
Yes, it’s a simple theory with big consequences in the real world.
 
Here are some recent proponents of the theory:
  • Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wrote about it in his biography Leaderhsip.
  • Pragmatic programmer Andy Hunt applies it to software engineering in his Pragmatic Programmer book.
 
And now here’s an article from The Economist that was published last year about how the theory has been proven.
 
If you’re not familiar with it, then I highly recommend you look into the Broken Window Theory and apply it to your daily life.
 
 

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