Broken Windows
I've blogged about trojan horses and purple cows. Here's what I mean by broken windows.
In the March 1982 issue of Atlantic Monthly, James Wilson and George Kelling wrote a piece titled Broken Windows. They argued that something as insignificant and innocuous as a broken window sends a subliminal message. If the window is left unrepaired it communicates that crime is ok. So Wilson and Kelling argued that the way to fight serious crime is by cracking down on small infractions.
That is precisely what happened inNew York City
In his book, Broken Windows Broken Business, Michael Levine applies the broken window theory to business.
A broken window can be a sloppy counter, a poorly located sale item, a randomly organized menu, or an employee with a bad attitude. It can be physical, like a faded paint job, or symbolic, like a policy that requires customers to pay for customer service. When the waiter at a Chinese restaurant is named Billy Bob, that’s a broken window.
Can I share two of my pastoral pet peeves? Unevenly folded bulletins and misspelled words on worship slides! I know those things aren't apocalyptic! But everything says something about everything. Or to put it another way, little things are big things. We need to strive for excellence in everything we do. One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is when we do something really small really well. I think it honors God.
In the March 1982 issue of Atlantic Monthly, James Wilson and George Kelling wrote a piece titled Broken Windows. They argued that something as insignificant and innocuous as a broken window sends a subliminal message. If the window is left unrepaired it communicates that crime is ok. So Wilson and Kelling argued that the way to fight serious crime is by cracking down on small infractions.
That is precisely what happened in
In his book, Broken Windows Broken Business, Michael Levine applies the broken window theory to business.
A broken window can be a sloppy counter, a poorly located sale item, a randomly organized menu, or an employee with a bad attitude. It can be physical, like a faded paint job, or symbolic, like a policy that requires customers to pay for customer service. When the waiter at a Chinese restaurant is named Billy Bob, that’s a broken window.
Can I share two of my pastoral pet peeves? Unevenly folded bulletins and misspelled words on worship slides! I know those things aren't apocalyptic! But everything says something about everything. Or to put it another way, little things are big things. We need to strive for excellence in everything we do. One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is when we do something really small really well. I think it honors God.
14 Comments:
I agree completely! All too often churches accept mediocrity - when people who encounter a church for the first time and they see these types of things the impression they are left with is that we don't care. As Jesus representatives we should do everything with the highest level of excellence...He did!
AMEN! I've never commented on your blog before and I'm a little ashamed that it was misspelled words that pushed me into commenting action. I totally resonate with the locus of your post. I'm so tired of churches doing a thousand things poorly instead of a few things with excellence. I understand there is a learning curve with, for instance, technology and in smaller churches that curve can be steep. But please, literally for the love of God, work out the bugs and PRACTICE before a service. A small note on the worship slides: it was bad enough in ye olden days of overhead projectors, but in the world of power point et al, spell check people!
I was going to say something but then was distracted by Wendy's use of "locus" in the previous comment...ah, beautiful.
Anyway - thanks, Mark, for the reminder to reocgnize the worship of the miniscule things we do. I like the application story Shawn Wood draws in "200 Pomegranates for an Audience of One," pointing at the excellence in minute details of the Tabernacle construction despite seemingly insignificance for the general public.
I am pickin' up what you're layin' down!! We just had this discussion in a leadership meeting and I reminded everyone of the old saying...you only get one chance to make a first impression. Let's be good stewards of all things we put our hands to.
Absolutely true!
Vince Lombardi used to tell his players that they should always strive for perfection. "Perfection," he said, "is not possible. But if we pursue perfection, we're bound to catch excellence." Especially in the church we should be so concerned about pursing perfection and catching excellence.
Great post Mark! The culture we create in our inattention can destroy the culture of our intention.
Thanks for the great post. I'm going to work it into our Weekly Ministry team meeting!
I read this post after getting yet another e-mail riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors from someone in a leadership position. I wondered if I was just thinking too much, as some of my students used to tell me, or if it really did affect people. Thanks for the timely post!
How do you address these things firmly without alienating the people who are the "offenders", especially if it is repeat?
I call it senior pastors disease - I notice way too much!
Just found your blog after picking up your books in Lifeway the other day. I think you and Eternity Communications would be great friends. http://www.eternitycommunications.com/
Christians, above all others, should strive for Excellence, in All we would do.
Hey Mark. This is Paul Church from back in the CBC days. I'm with you on the pet peeves. Thanks for this blog. If you don't mind, I'm going to share it with my staff. God Bless.
Good post. I love the broken windows theory. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a whole chapter on it in his book "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" (2000). It's a good read, too.
I too agree with the concept. I believe we also need to discern and hold some things in tension. Let me give an example...specifically on one of your pet peeves Mark. I resonate with the uneven bulletins. Right now, we have uneven bulletins, and I LOVE IT! When a marginalized person from the community...a 30 something woman who's actually mentally a child, we said YES...and we showed her how, but the reality is...she will not be able to fold them perfectly...but she LOVES to fold, and she loves to give people our bulletins. This is an example, and it happens in other ways, where I believe we're challenged to let go of our pet peeve and embrace this "child" who is leading us into the Kingdom. In this case, more important than a straight bulletin. I find have to discern when this principle of broken windows applies and we need to "repair" it, and when it is the broken body of Jesus being revealed to help us walk a little closer to Him.
Just my 2 cents
Darlene
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