Are YOU fixing the ‘broken windows’?

Of late, whenever I am faced with an environmental or general problem or hear of a problem from someone else, my first response is ‘what am I/are you doing to solve it?’ I am tired of people complaining about things that are within their control that they can attempt to solve or solve completely.

The human brain is biased toward the negative. We see bad before we see good. We remember bad memories quicker than we remember good uplifting ones. It’s just the way we are wired. But the brain is also very adaptive, and we can rewire our brains to have a bias toward the positive. But it takes effort.

And one way to do this is via the environment. We can change our thinking and hence behaviour by changing our environment. Especially when the environment is not serving us. And that’s where the broken window theory comes in.

The broken window theory is the concept that each problem that goes unattended in a given environment affects people's attitude toward that environment and leads to more problems.

The residential area I lived in whilst in Vienna had a common rubbish collection area. It is well designed and large enough for the density of people in the area. It is a gated and secured area to stop random people from having access to it. Access is with a key. But one day I noticed some rubbish collecting just outside this gated area. I was a little taken aback. Small amounts of litter were normal and typically got cleared by the local council. But this mount of rubbish was larger and was not collected even after 2 weeks.

What was more interesting was that over the two weeks the rubbish mound grew. People were happy to part with their rubbish because the environment encouraged them! The mound of rubbish was changing the behaviour of the people who came across it. Rubbish was attracting more rubbish. People were parting with their rubbish because they thought ‘someone else has done it, I can too’. I was intrigued and disappointed.

I was not there for the entire two weeks as I was travelling out of Vienna a fair amount but every time I returned I noticed the rubbish mount growing. And I realised no one, local council or residents, did anything about it. And I thought it was time I did something about it. And I did!

I got a large bin bag and went back to the site and cleared all the rubbish into the bin bag. There was a fair amount of it, but I managed to get it all into the bag. The place looked uplifted and clean immediately.

Still clean. (Picture taken yesterday 27 August, 22). The rubbish I cleared was where the trolleys are. In my conviction to clear it I forgot to take a picture of the rubbish mount!

Over the next one week whilst I was there I noticed the area remained clean!! Clearing the rubbish stopped others from throwing their rubbish there. I was quite amazed. A simple gesture on my part had a big impact on the behaviour of others.

I know of the broken window theory from the days it was implemented in New York City in the 1990s to ‘clean up’ the city. There were some controversies in New York’s context but overall, the principle works.

Where are the ‘broken windows’ in your context and what simple steps can you take to fix them?

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com