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Broken windows and broken brands

Years back two researchers argued that rampant crime in the city is the inevitable result of disorder. If a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and that no one is in charge. One unrepaired window is an invitation to break more windows, and then lawlessness spreads outward from buildings to streets to entire communities.

Can you see the parallels between broken windows and broken brands?

A broken brand is a business that has no idea where it’s going; has no way of communicating its purpose (since none exists); and therefore cannot align its activities nor inspire its people. It’s in disorder. And this disorder leads to people walking around concluding that no one cares and that no one is in charge. Employees may see problems or opportunities, but they stop complaining and suggesting ideas, since they’re convinced management can’t do anything, or won’t. I’ve read the results of recent surveys, which showed that fewer than 10 percent of employees believe their daily activities are actually related to corporate goals. That’s pitiful.

Leaders are not connecting their organizations’ purposes to the individual’s sense of accomplishment, because the organization doesn’t have a purpose. There may be goals and objectives and “todos,” but there is no unifying perspective -- or strong brand -- that inspires people and guides their actions. This lack of a central organizing principle becomes an open invitation for people to run around following their own self-serving agendas. And like the broken window syndrome in neighborhoods, this lawlessness ends up spreading from employee to employee and from employee to customer. Before long, the organization is hardened with passionless team members, uninspired customers, shrinking margins, layoffs, accounting scandals, Dilbertesque cynicism. A vicious, and totally avoidable, downward spiral.

You’re probably wondering why the leader doesn’t simply step in and take control.

The simple answer is that today’s environment is too complex for leaders to “take control.” In the simpler days leaders acted as police and, like the police of that time, were far more integrated in the “community.” They could see -- or sense -- signals of disorder and intervene to protect their brand. The leaders of today -- like the police of today -- are dealing with a much more complex environment with widely different competitive pressures, customer demands, stockholder expectations, and workforce requirements. They are struggling with the global recession, the social web revolution, and the collapse of the old Industrial business paradigm. The only way for today’s leader to prevent disorderly behavior that will ultimately corrupt his or her organization is to viscerally understand and passionately communicate the organization’s brand!

The leader needs to communicate the brand’s compelling essence, which will inspire sharing, tolerance, teamwork and innovation, and act as a filtering mechanism for new ideas. The brand’s driving philosophy will create alignment and focus, and instill confidence, and give people permission to act, and bring ideas to life. Its special spirit will engage and unify people, and compel them to self-police the organization and prevent the small but unmistakable signals of impending chaos.

The good times are not returning any time soon. And until leaders put the brand at the heart of the organization and make people feel that they exist at that heart, chaos will prevail.

Posted November 6, 2009
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