Bratton was appointed police commissioner of New York City in 1994. At that time, the NYPD was underpaid, crime had gotten out of control, and many believed crime was impervious to police intervention. However, by 1996, after Bratton implemented changes, felony crime fell 39%, murders fell 50%, theft fell 35%, and public confidence in the NYPD jumped from 37% to 73%. Bratton transformed the NYPD and turned New York into the safest large city in the nation through tipping point leadership - by engaging and converting a critical mass of people in the organization to a new idea, change can spread like an epidemic.

1. Tipping Point Leadership
Harvard Business Review – April 2013
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2. References and acknowledgement
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I don’t own any of the images used in this slide
deck
Don’t compete
with rivals, make
them irrelevant

3. Flashback to 1994
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New York City Police Department
1. Officers were underpaid relative to their counterparts
in neighboring communities, and promotion seemed
to bear little relationship to performance.
2. Crime had gotten so far out of control that the press
referred to the Big Apple as the Rotten Apple.
3. many social scientists had concluded, after three
decades of increases, that New York City crime was
impervious to police intervention
4. The best the police could do was react to crimes once
they were committed.
William Bratton was appointed police commissioner of New York City

4. Fast forward to 1996
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Bratton turned New York into the safest
large city in the nation.
1. Felony crime fell 39%
2. Murders by 50%
3. Theft by 35%
4. Public confidence in NYPD jumped from 37% to 73%
5. Job satisfaction in the police department reached all
time high
He featured on the cover of Time

5. Theory of Tipping Point Leadership
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In an organization, once the
beliefs and energies of a critical
mass of people are engaged,
conversion to a new idea will
spread like an epidemic

6. Conventional Wisdom vs Tipping Point Leadership
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The theory of organizational change rests on transforming the mass and these efforts
require steep resources and long timeframes.
To achieve a strategic shift at low cost, focus on the extremes – the people,
acts, and activities that exert a disproportionate influence on performance

7. Organizational hurdles to strategy execution
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Cognitive Hurdle
An organization
wedded to the status
quo
Political Hurdle
Opposition from
powerful vested
interests
Motivational Hurdle
Unmotivated staff
Resource Hurdle
Limited resources

8. Cognitive Hurdle
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Reporting numbers are NOT the only source of
information
Let’s acknowledge and witness the problem
Meeting between police department
and local communities

9. Resource Hurdle
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There will never ever be unlimited amount of resources
Don’t demand extra
Use at right places
New York Narcotics Unit New York Transit Police

10. Sanjay Saini – ©2016. All Rights Reserved 10