Officers were underpaid relative to their counterparts in neighboring communities, and promotion seemed to bear little relationship to performance. Turf wars over jurisdiction and funding were rife. The New York Police Department, with a $2 billion budget and a workforce of 35,000 police officers, was notoriously difficult to manage. In February 1994, William Bratton was appointed police commissioner of New York City. When Bratton proved his proposed crime-reporting system required less than 18 minutes a day, time-crunched precinct commanders adopted it. Early on, he identified likely saboteurs and resisters among top staff-prompting a changing of the guard.Īlso, silence opposition with indisputable facts. Timoney knew the key players and how they played the political game. Example:Īt the NYPD, Bratton appointed 20-year veteran cop John Timoney as his number two. Identify and silence key naysayers early by putting a respected senior insider on your top team. Even when organizations reach their tipping points, powerful vested interests resist change. Bratton exhorted staff to make NYC’s streets safe “block by block, precinct by precinct, and borough by borough.”Ĥ. Results? A culture of performance, accountability, and learning that commanders replicated down the ranks.Īlso make challenges attainable. Example:īratton put the NYPD’s key influencers-precinct commanders-under a spotlight during semiweekly crime strategy review meetings, where peers and superiors grilled commanders about precinct performance. Most organizations have several key influencers who share common problems and concerns-making it easy to identify and motivate them. Like bowling kingpins hit straight on, they topple all the other pins. Instead, motivate key influencers-persuasive people with multiple connections. But don’t try reforming your whole organization that’s cumbersome and expensive. To turn a mere strategy into a movement, people must recognize what needs to be done and yearn to do it themselves. Since the majority of subway crimes occurred at only a few stations, Bratton focused manpower there-instead of putting a cop on every subway line, entrance, and exit.ģ. Rather than trimming your ambitions (dooming your company to mediocrity) or fighting for more resources (draining attention from the underlying problems), concentrate current resources on areas most needing change. Seeing the jammed turnstiles, youth gangs, and derelicts, they grasped the need for change-and embraced responsibility for it.Ģ. To shatter their complacency, Bratton required all NYTP officers-himself included-to commute by subway. But the New York Transit Police’s senior staff pooh-poohed public fears-because none had ever ridden subways. New Yorkers once viewed subways as the most dangerous places in their city. Instead, make key managers experience your organization’s problems. To make a compelling case for change, don’t just point at the numbers and demand better ones. The Idea in Practice Four Steps to the Tipping Pointġ. Not every executive has Bratton’s personality, but most have his potential-if they follow his success formula. Bratton used tipping point leadership to make unarguable calls for change, concentrate resources on what really mattered, mobilize key players’ commitment, and silence naysayers. Most dramatically, he transformed the U.S.’s most dangerous city-New York-into its safest. Take lessons from police chief Bill Bratton, who’s pulled the trick off five times. How can you overcome the hurdles facing any organization struggling to change: addiction to the status quo, limited resources, demotivated employees, and opposition from powerful vested interests?
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