Book Review: A Perfect Mess

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 Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
[Non-Fiction] Did you ever spot a book that called out to you in a deep and profound way? Well, this isn't that book, but it did call out to the messier side of me. How great to think there would be benefits to having a less-than-perfect organizing scheme. It turns out that the authors found quite a cost savings in not being overly structured in one's house or business. Citing examples from business, government, and individuals, they relate stories of success in an outwardly disorganized system. Obviously, they differentiate between ordinary, harmless messiness in which the person has learned to prioritize well, and can always find what that want, and the disastrous hoarding that has had some people literally drown in their clutter: ". . .moderately disorganized people, institutions, and systems frequently turn out to be more efficient, more resilient, more creative, and in general more effective than highly organized ones. . ." --Unsigned to protect the organizationally-challenged in the Reference Department