There is a certain kind of building that tells you everything you need to know within thirty seconds. The floors shine, but not in a theatrical way. The trash cans are empty, but not aggressively so. The bathrooms smell neutral—an underrated achievement. Light fixtures work. Doors close properly. Signage is clear. Nothing feels improvised. Nobody mentions any of this. That’s the point. You don’t walk in thinking, Wow, this place is clean. You walk in thinking, This place functions. This is the Janitor Effect—the quiet but persistent relationship between operational discipline and long-term performance. It’s not about cleanliness as aesthetics. It’s about what spotless hallways reveal about how an organization thinks, prioritizes, and executes. And time and again, companies that get the small, unglamorous things right tend to outperform not just their messier peers, but the market itself. Clean Hallways Are a Lagging Indicator of Something Deeper No company becomes clean by acc...