[BBD]≫ Read Gratis A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder How Crammed Closets Cluttered Offices and ontheFly Planning Make the World a Better Place Eric Abrahamson David H Freedman 9780316114752 Books

A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder How Crammed Closets Cluttered Offices and ontheFly Planning Make the World a Better Place Eric Abrahamson David H Freedman 9780316114752 Books

Download As PDF : A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder How Crammed Closets Cluttered Offices and ontheFly Planning Make the World a Better Place Eric Abrahamson David H Freedman 9780316114752 Books

A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder How Crammed Closets Cluttered Offices and ontheFly Planning Make the World a Better Place Eric Abrahamson David H Freedman 9780316114752 Books

"Being organized" is often used as a compliment - as a society we admire the quality and strive to get better at it ourselves. Perhaps not surprisingly, a billion dollar industry of consultants, authors, products, and methodologies has formed around this field, all vying for our attention and dollars. However, as Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman point out, there is a hidden cost to "being organized", and it can be taken to an extreme. Really, how many plastic boxes and label dispensers do you really need?

We all depend on order and consistency in our daily life, but it's the variety that's the spice! The authors cover a number of examples, varying from personal organization, to our gardens, and even show how large corporations can benefit from a certain amount of disorder.

The provided examples are interesting, but I could not help but to feel that the authors could have, ironically, benefited from more organization. There is no central idea to the book, short of 'embrace a little disorder', and the anecdotes are interesting but hardly conclusive.


Tags : A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and on-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place [Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Ever since Einstein's study of Brownian Motion, scientists have understood that a little disorder can actually make systems more effective. But most people still shun disorder-or suffer guilt over the mess they can't avoid. No longer!With a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the hidden benefits of mess,Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman,A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and on-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place,Little, Brown and Company,0316114758,General,Organizational Behavior,Moderation.,Order.,Orderliness.,Business & Economics Organizational Behavior,Business Economics Finance,Business Life - General,Moderation,Order,Orderliness,Personal Guidance,Self-Help,Self-Help General

A Perfect Mess The Hidden Benefits of Disorder How Crammed Closets Cluttered Offices and ontheFly Planning Make the World a Better Place Eric Abrahamson David H Freedman 9780316114752 Books Reviews

Measured in conventional ways, this book can be -- like mess itself --a bit frustrating as several other reviewers have noted, it ends unsatisfyingly abruptly after wandering in desultory fashion through seemingly endless anecdotes that, for the most part, have little to do with the messy-desk or messy-home problem that most of us expected to be reading about. The essential purpose of this book, though, is to free you from the chokehold of normative concepts about neatness and organization. Read any few pages and you will probably come away, as I did, with at least two break-through ideas -- a) feel free to RELAX about the untidy aspects of much (not all! -- do organize your estate!!) of your life, and feel genuinely good knowing that clutter and disorganization can be really really beneficial, as the authors repeatedly document; and b) out-of-the-box, contrarian, messy spontaneity can lead you to truly extraordinary personal and professional discoveries. This book is a great substitute for prozac -- if you're ever feeling depressed because your life is a mess, open this book to any page and you will be uplifted by an anecdote illustrating how often it is that turmoil magically leads to good fortune.
By profession I am a Professional Organizer, but hidden inside of me is a totally disorganized person who struggles every day with the chaos and disorder in my life. I've read many of the "get organized" books, but was frustrated by my inability to follow through with the sense of perfection they required. "A Perfect Mess..." is a refreshing change. It was extremely helpful with organizational ideas, but it allowed me to be less than perfect. It is full of shortcuts that allowed me to achieve my goals but drop my idealistic methods. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of the "how to" books on organization and would like to read a book written by someone who really understands.
This book is absolutely delightful! My friend Tami told me that she had heard something about this book on public radio and was planning on getting it; her description of the contents sounded encouraging. I have been under a lot of stress for over the past year, and like many individuals in that situation, I find I'm probably messier than I've ever been in my life. It was really starting to get me down, and I was already depressed! So when Tami mentioned the book, I decided I needed HELP!

The authors pointed out several interesting facts about "messiness" that were very beneficial, at least to me. Even just knowing that the rest of the world is not necessarily less messy than I am helped, as did the concept that "mess" is in the eye of the beholder. Their introduction of positive outcomes from at least a little bit of mess was very helpful too. It made me notice that despite the mess induced stress, I am being more original and more creative than I have been in years. Maybe a little mess is a good thing after all. I looked at my often compulsive neatness in the past and realized that I was always getting ready to do something creative, but other than obtain the materials, buy some books about what I wanted to do, and set up a place to do it, nothing really ever got created! On the other hand, I also learned that things don't necessarily have to be "finished" right away, either; just because there's a mess on the dining room table does not mean that one has or should tidy up the "work in progress". It certainly saves a lot of time if you don't, and it keeps the project visible to you so that it doesn't fall off the "to do" list.

The authors have a lovely readable style. They discuss mess and messiness so delightfully and so comically, one can't help laughing over some of the points they make. Partly because they're so true, and partly because you could see yourself doing many of them. I found myself laughing so often, my Great Danes thought something was wrong with me! The male Tempo constantly put his face into mine to try to understand, and the female Scherazadh just looked worried.

The book doesn't condone messiness outright; in fact the authors offer some of their own suggestions about dealing with clutter, and introduce some on how to incorporate some types of mess while suppressing other kinds. There are several very entertaining--not to mention surprising--illustrative personal tales of the success of mess, and even the art of mess.

Probably the most eye opening examples, though, are those that point out that businesses that stick to a rigid mode of organization and "planning for the future," among other things, can actually be the least successful. (See if the company or institution that you work for does any of them. Mine does many of them.) The very rigidity makes them less responsive or less rapidly responsive to changes in their market or in the world at large. Essentially the authors point out that standing the concept of structure on its head can yield a much more flexible institution, can encourage employees to be more creative, and can reduce the stress in the work environment.

I'd advise anyone suffering from the stress of mess to read this book. Certainly those who feel that they are somehow not quite as good as others because of the messiness of their home, car, office, etc. will find considerable comfort in these pages. I know I did.
The beginning of the book was very interesting, but after a while the "mess is good" message got a little old. Towards the end of the book I felt there simply was not enough material to write this book. Maybe this book should have been a long magazine article instead. Also, some of the material presented in the book was based on limited research. For example How can you say that Microsoft is doing better than Apple, because Microsoft is "messy" and Apple is "neat"? There is no proof of this anywhere to be found. The success of Microsoft and Apple depend much more on the particular time in history than on their messiness/neatness.

In short Don't buy. Go to a bookstore and read the first part of the book, rest is a repeat.
"Being organized" is often used as a compliment - as a society we admire the quality and strive to get better at it ourselves. Perhaps not surprisingly, a billion dollar industry of consultants, authors, products, and methodologies has formed around this field, all vying for our attention and dollars. However, as Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman point out, there is a hidden cost to "being organized", and it can be taken to an extreme. Really, how many plastic boxes and label dispensers do you really need?

We all depend on order and consistency in our daily life, but it's the variety that's the spice! The authors cover a number of examples, varying from personal organization, to our gardens, and even show how large corporations can benefit from a certain amount of disorder.

The provided examples are interesting, but I could not help but to feel that the authors could have, ironically, benefited from more organization. There is no central idea to the book, short of 'embrace a little disorder', and the anecdotes are interesting but hardly conclusive.