Broken Windows...

ok...so I thought I would share some insight from this book I'm reading called the tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm in a chapter right now called the Power of Context. In this chapter the author gives the account of the crime wave of NY City in the 80's and how in the 90's something dramatic happened to turn this thing on its head "tipping point".

There is this thing called the Broken Window theory, basically its that if a window is broken and not repaired then that sends a signal to everyone out there that no one cares and no one is in charge which leads to more broken windows and eventually more and more crime, deeper and deeper...Gladwell says that in a lot of ways this is how crime becomes an epidemic, its almost like a fashion trend that catches on, its contagious, mixed with the right context. So the story continues on "how" the city officials began to "tip" the city back in the right direction. He tells the story about fixing the subways of all the graffiti, even though people thought that this was the "least" of the problems, they started there with the small things and sent the message to all the criminals, they also did this with the farebeaters as well, not paying for the subway and jumping gates. Little by little they were sending a message.

here is a quote from the chapter...

"When crime began to fall in the city - as quickly and dramatically as it had in the subways - Brattion and Guiliani point to the same cause. Minor, seemingly insignificant quality-of-life crimes, they said, were the Tipping Points for violent crime. Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context are one and the same. They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment."

So, what does this look like on our blocks and neighborhoods? I guess the old proverb "a little can go a long way" is true. What can we be intential about in the small things that will be contagious and help to bring the tipping point to BH as we live our day to day lives....just something to think about.