The Lesson That Changed New York (and Can Change Your Team)

You want better results.

But your team keeps doing the same old things.

Let's see.

Changing people is hard.

We all know that.

But there's something a guy did in New York,

in the 90s.

And it changed an entire city.

(You'll like the trick).

Look.

William Bratton was New York City's Police Commissioner.

Year 1994.

He inherited a city out of control.

Going outside was scary:

muggings, shootings, closed businesses, trash-filled streets,

and the smell of urine.

The subway covered in graffiti.

Cars scratched like war walls.

And worst of all,

It seemed like nobody cared.

Bratton had a challenge:

to make New York a decent city.

A city where his daughter could go out and play,

and he wouldn't be afraid to let her.

So he created a plan.

He called it the Broken Windows theory.

Based on a simple idea:

If a building has a broken window and it's not repaired,

soon all the others will be broken.

In other words:

If you tolerate one flaw, you allow the others.

So he started with the basics.

He ordered the graffiti removed from the subway.

He ordered the arrest of fare dodgers.

And those urinating in the street.

Small crimes.

Ridiculous, if you compare them to the city's chaos.

Nobody thought it would help.

William did.

The result?

Serious crime dropped by over 30%.

Murders were cut almost in half.

New York was reborn.

People started using the subway without fear again.

Tourists returned.

The city felt alive again.

Applause for William, please?.

And now, why should you care about this?

A lot.

Because you also want your team's behavior to change.

For them to do things differently.

And that's hard.

But you can use the same trick:

If you take care of the small things,

you transform the big things.

If you pay attention to:

How they dress.

The words they use in front of the customer.

Their arrival time.

The cleanliness of their workspace.

(Yes, those “insignificant little things” you're leaving to chance).

You're sending a clear message:

Here we excel, starting with the little things.

Remember:

Your team's culture isn't in speeches.

It's in the behaviors you tolerate,

the ones you recognize,

and the ones you correct.

In short:

What you accept becomes normalized, becomes culture.

Think about it:

What behaviors are you tolerating today that will cost you dearly tomorrow?

Your team's “broken windows” matter more than you think.

With love,

Carlos

P.S. Service is the way.

PS2. If you want help getting your team to provide exceptional service and improve your results, let's talk.

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