Broken Windows, Broken Business - A Review

More like Broken Windows, Broken Metaphor.

I really enjoyed Michael Levine's earlier book, Guerrilla PR Wired, which I listened to as an audiobook through Audible.com. I also have become interested in the broken windows theory through Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point and Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

The broken windows theory, based on the book Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities, basically stipulates that small things can make a big difference. (Kind of like the devil is in the details.) Many people feel this change in perspective was instrumental in driving down the crime rate in New York City. If police go after nuisance crimes, such as squeegee men, turnstile hoppers and broken windows, overall crime will go down, including more violent crime.

I was surprised to see that the entire unabridged version of this book was just over four hours long. However, after listening to it for 45 minutes, I realized that it was long enough.

The important parts of the book could have been condensed down to a tri-fold pamphlet you'd find at your doctor's office. "So You Have Broken Windows", right between "So You Have Shingles" and "So You've Hit Menopause."

Although the idea of how your business's metaphoric "broken windows" can impact your bottom line is interesting, there was no new information after the first few minutes of the audiobook. In fact, the most interesting stuff (by default), such as stumbles by McDonald's and other big corporations, had already been discussed in detail in Levine's earlier books.

Over and over again, we are implored to fix our broken windows. Literal broken windows. Figurative broken windows. Future broken windows. The metaphor is stretched to the point of breaking within 10 minutes and it only goes downhill from there.

A lot of the broken windows described don't really seem like broken windows to me. Was Yahoo really broken because its search took .5 seconds and Google's took .2?  It gave me the impression when all you have is a hammer, all you see is nails.

The section on broken windows and Web sites was painfully inadequate and seemed to show some misunderstanding of how search engines worked. I also didn't think that most Web site owners would be able to walk away with any helpful information to improve their own Web sites.

While some retail operations who haven't read any recent business books may get something out of Broken Windows, Broken Business, I think the rest of us can skip it.

Rich Brooks
Broken Windows, Lost Baseball