A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place

by Freedman, David H.; Abrahamson, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780316013994
• ISBN10: 0316013994
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-08
• Publisher: Back Bay Books

Summary

This Groundbreaking Book is an antidote to the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Presenting a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the useful role mess can play in business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, A Perfect Mess reveals how moderately messy systems yield better solutions and use resources more efficiently.

Author Biography

Eric Abrahamson is a professor of management at Columbia University's School of Business, and author of Change Without Pain. David H. Freedman is the author of three books, and is a business and science journalist who has written for The Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, and Wired, among others. Abrahamson lives in New York, and Freedman in Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
The Cost of Neatness	p. 7
A Mess Sampler	p. 26
The History of Mess	p. 55
The Benefits of Mess	p. 75
Messy People	p. 100
Messy Homes	p. 124
Mess and Organizations	p. 146
Messy Leadership	p. 180
The Politics of Mess	p. 201
Optimizing Mess	p. 227
Messy Thinking	p. 245
Pathological Mess	p. 271
The Aesthetics of Mess	p. 289
Source Notes	p. 311
Acknowledgments	p. 315
Index	p. 317
Reading Group Guide	p. 329
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