Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.

Buy New
$16.80
  • List Price: $28.00
  • Save: $11.20 (40%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Messy: The Power of Disor... has been added to your Cart
Want it Tuesday, Nov. 1? Order within and choose Two-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Ship to:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives Hardcover – October 4, 2016

4.7 out of 5 stars 7 customer reviews

See all 5 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
Hardcover
"Please retry"
$16.80
$9.61 $16.31

Best Books of the Month
See the Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.
$16.80 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
click to open popover

Frequently Bought Together

  • Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives
  • +
  • The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
  • +
  • Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
Total price: $58.23
Buy the selected items together


Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

  (What's this?)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Review

See all Editorial Reviews
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
New York Times best sellers
Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more. See more

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Riverhead Books (October 4, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594634793
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594634796
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

  (What's this?)

Customer Reviews

5 star
71%
4 star
29%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%
See all 7 customer reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers

Top Customer Reviews

By D. Morris on October 3, 2016
Format: Paperback
From time to time I get a yen to live in an orderly world. Suddenly aghast at the junkheap of notes, papers, post-its and books that my desk has become, I tidy it up, binning some things and carefully sorting other items into files. Then I survey the neatly arranged pens and single new notepad with satisfaction, only to discover that I can no longer find the things that were previously there at my fingertips.

The problem is not that our minds are messy, but that we don't accept that as a good thing. So we try to impose order on our working environment and in doing so risk stifling the creativity that can come from serendipitous connections. In Messy, Tim Harford shows how disorder takes many forms and can be stimulating and productive, whether in life, the workplace, the battlefield, or the mind. Every book of Mr Harford's is filled with insight, humour, erudition, intellectual delight, and refreshingly laser-focus logic, and this is no exception.
Comment 39 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Hardcover
“Messy” isn’t so much an encouragement to disorder as it is the Life-Changing Magic of Coping with Mess. Most of the time, it’s a classic non-fiction book celebrating the power of disorder, difficulty and disarray to inspire creativity, with many an example from music, tech and art, rather than a how-to guide--presumably on the assumption that most of us don’t need one of those! But certain sections, like those describing the problems with a rigidly fixed approach to an organized environment as opposed to the successes that seem to come from a workspace or playspace that you can essentially destroy at will, might inspire you to embrace mess instead of just tolerating it. My favorite chapter involved the power of working on multiple tasks (not multi-tasking, but just having different things going on in different areas), which Harford says can encourage breakthroughs and unusual approaches.
Comment 24 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Hardcover
Having loved Tim Harford's book 'Adapt' I was excited to get hold of 'Messy' as it looked like being more of the same. It doesn't disappoint. In a similar style it sets about convincing the reader of the central idea - that disordered or uncontrolled things can be beneficial - via an eclectic collection of well told and well researched stories. As with the author's public speaking (TED talk recommended if you haven't seen it) you're well entertained throughout as well as hopefully having learned something.
Comment 22 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform our Lives (2016) by Tim Harford praises disorder in getting things done and being creative. Harford is an excellent economics writer and the presenter of More or Less, a number checking radio show and podcast.

First Harford describes how messiness, disorder and surprise help in creativity and talks about how Brian Eno made musicians do things unexpectedly. Teams are next with a foray into the brilliance of Paul Erdos and how diverse teams do better than teams of similar people. Workplaces where serendipitous meetings happen and the futility of tidy desks make the next chapter. Improvisation and Martin Luther King then get a run.

The virtue of holding the initiative with unexpected boldness, personified by Rommel is then added into the mix. Problems with targets for performance and the way people handle then are then described. The perils of automation and the crash of Air France 447 and the problems with relying on ordered systems are also described. Harford finally describes how calendars can be a prison, how there simply isn't a perfect formula for a perfect match and why we should value a bit of disorder in our conversation and that kids should play in a world with sufficient mess in order to become more resilient and more creative.

It's well written but as in Adapt the book doesn't quite hang together with a particularly strong thesis. Then again for a book about mess this is probably fine. It's a fun read and any 'loyal listeners' out there would definitely enjoy it.
Comment 11 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives