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

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ISBN-10: 0316013994

ISBN-13: 9780316013994

Edition: Revised 

Authors: David H. Freedman, Eric Abrahamson

List price: $21.99
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Description:

"An engaging polemic against the neat-police who hold so much sway over our lives." -The Wall Street Journal Enthusiastically embraced by readers everywhere, this groundbreaking book is an antidote to the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. With an astounding array of anecdotes and case studies of the useful role mess can play in business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, hardware stores, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahamson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones. From clutter to…    
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Book details

List price: $21.99
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Publication date: 1/8/2008
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 352
Size: 5.63" wide x 8.25" long x 1.00" tall
Weight: 0.638

David H. Freedman is a contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, and has written on science, business, and technology for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Science, Wired, and many other publications. His newest book, Wrong, about why experts keep failing us, came out in June, 2010. His last book (coauthored) was A Perfect Mess, about the useful role of disorder in daily life, business, and science. He is also the author of books about the US Marines, computer crime, and artificial intelligence. Freedman's blog, "Making Sense of Medicine," takes a close, critical look at medical findings making current headlines with an eye to separating out the…    

Eric Abrahamson is the youngest ever full professor of management at Columbia University's School of Business.

Introduction
The Cost of Neatness
A Mess Sampler
The History of Mess
The Benefits of Mess
Messy People
Messy Homes
Mess and Organizations
Messy Leadership
The Politics of Mess
Optimizing Mess
Messy Thinking
Pathological Mess
The Aesthetics of Mess
Source Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Reading Group Guide