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Like a Good Neighbor...
 By
Jason Swanson, CFI
Regional Manager Asset Protection
Abercrombie & Fitch - Hollister Co. - Gilly Hicks
What should I do? There could be potential danger, certain uncertainty,
monumental personal risk, life changing events, strengthened friendships,
stressed relationships, an outcome that creates a safer neighborhood, or an
outcome that creates a frightened neighborhood.
Is this a calculated risk that I am willing to take for myself, my family, my
friends and neighbors, and my neighborhood?
I weighed all of these options in a split second, made the decision to
intervene, and emerged stronger, more resilient, with more experience, and was
able to create a safer and more hospitable environment for my family and
friends.
What happened? It doesn’t really matter. But what I walked away with matters.
Reflecting on my experience, I analyzed how it applied directly to my work, the
business partners that I interact (and don’t interact) with on a daily basis,
and my “neighborhood”. Am I a good neighbor? Do I look the other way when
something happens elsewhere? Am I engaged in the “neighborhood”? Am I Grizzly
Adams? Through self reflection, I fall (as I guess many of you do) somewhere in
the middle – and probably closer to Grizzly Adams (without the beard) than I am
comfortable admitting!
First, we must establish what is your neighborhood? Does it comprise your store
or a group of stores that your company owns? Is it a group of peer retailers in
a particular mall or all of the retailers in a location? Does it encompass the
community, retailers, and government in a specific municipality? Is it an entire
region, zone, or country?
Next, we need to establish what it means to be a good neighbor. In order to
accurately determine what it means as well as what we must do to be good
neighbors, I suggest looking at the following example and extrapolating your
neighborhood and a specific scenario from it that is specific to you and your
function.
Drawing from the Broken Window Theory (George L. Kelling), as well as the theory
of Antifragility and Black Swan Events (Nassim Nicholas Taleb) the following
example takes a neighborhood comprised of a group of retailers contained within
a mall in a specific municipality and walks through the potential outcomes of
not being a good neighbor.
In this situation, neither the Broken Window Theory, nor being Antifragile
are adhered to. The overall result to the neighborhood is caustic. What could
have been done to evoke a change in outcome? Here are a few of my ideas:
| 1. |
Eliminate the broken windows. Pay
attention to the little things. The repercussions of having local
kids hanging out at the mall can be amazing or detrimental based on
how the neighborhood reacts. |
| 2. |
Don’t be blind to “Black Swan”
events (situations that may seem insignificant or improbable but
have the potential to have dramatic outcomes that could be either
positive or negative) – like local offenders (habitual offenders)
targeting a wonderful new mall. Take advantage of these
opportunities to create neighborhood initiatives to increase the
impression of control. |
| 3. |
Make sure that the whole
neighborhood is involved. One weak link will cause an otherwise
strong chain to break. |
| 4. |
Reach out and communicate to
business partners that otherwise may not be involved. Help them to
see the far reaching effects of broken windows and black swans, and
how the neighborhood can emerge and not only be resilient from these
events, but become antifragile. |
Are you a good neighbor? Are your neighbors good neighbors? What can you do
to improve the quality of your neighborhood? What will improving your
neighborhood do to your property value?
Actions of this nature are often not easy to make, carry significant personal
and professional risk, and have uncertain outcomes. However, if executed
properly these actions will have seismic positive impact on your neighborhood.
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