A Perfect Mess

This book, a gleeful David tossing stones in the face of the Goliath-like "organizing industry," raises provocative questions about our love affair with neatness and our shame over messiness. The authors encourage listeners to consider how messy systems can spawn creative solutions and to reconsider the hidden costs of overzealous neatness in both personal and business settings. Scott Brick, who has one of those compelling documentary-type voices, presents a multitude of anecdotes that are entertainingâ and potentially liberating to anyone undergoing a failed seasonal cleaning. Despite Brick's professional and energetic presentation, at points in this freewheeling and lengthy book listeners may wish for . . .well . . . a bit more organization to the argument. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


Is your workspace a complex but personal jumble of information, data, and stuff? Is your home a comfortable space that has some black holes of organization? Then you may be on the track to greater productivity, creativity, and happiness, according to the authors. Reader David Freedman makes this a friendly listen as the authors reveal such details as the possibility that the discovery of penicillin would not have occurred if the lab had not been a mess. The authors find an order in apparent chaos that they believe is efficient in its own right. This is a good audiobook to listen to when driving or working around the mess, er, house. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

August 15, 2007
In a society that worships the organized person, it is refreshing to have someone stand up for the disorganized. Abrahamson (professor of management at Columbia Business School) and Freedman (technology columnist atInc. magazine) make a strong case for developing a business and a lifestyle that favor more mess and less organization. They encourage listeners to consider the costs (monetary, personal, and professional) of establishing messless homes and offices. Through a range of examples from the arts, business, and science, they demonstrate that mess can foster creativity, flexibility, functionality, and growth. In the abridged version, narrator Freedman focuses on the business benefits of mess. He demonstrates why managers should be less tied to time-consuming organizational tasks and strategic plans that, unless ignored, often hamper a quick response to changing circumstances. The unabridged edition, read by Scott Brick, demonstrates how mess is an integral creative component for many people. Listeners are encouraged to accept more mess in their lives for benefits that range from higher productivity to more time with family and friends. Both programs will find an interested audience in most public and college libraries. For the person who simply wishes to glean the most pertinent information concerning business practices, the abridged version is acceptable. However, the unabridged set will be essential for those who want to know about the fascinating current research into all aspects of mess.-Kathleen Sullivan, Phoenix P.L.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.