A fine mess you've gotten us into

Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. A Perfect Mess.

The subtitle pretty much summarizes the book (and me): "The hidden benefits of disorder--how crammed closets, cluttered offices, and on-the-fly planning make the world a better place."

In one sense I didn't learn a lot from this book since I've always been an advocate of constant short term planning, intuitive filing systems, and lateral thinking. The more you control, the less you have control. In another sense, I got what I needed: intellectual validation for something I've always felt to be true: that systems work best when they have some wobble in them.

Section headings in this book read like zen koans:

• Completeness: Awash in Useful Mess



• Invention: Creative Disorder



• The order pervert: Derives pleasure from order for its own sake

Citing such diverse examples as the discovery of penicillin (Alexander Fleming left a dirty petri dish near a window and went off on vacation. When he came back he found a fuzzy green substance growing in it. Antibiotics were discovered!) and jazz improvisation, the authors argue that messiness fosters creative connections that would not have otherwise happened, and that it is the ability to appreciate the potential of such connections that characterizes successful people.