Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$9.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
$13.62

Paperback
$13.99

List Price: $25.99 Details

Save: $12.37 (48%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Monday, January 22 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$13.62 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

Shakespeare Book House

Sold by

Shakespeare Book House

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery January 29 - February 9 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery January 28 - February 6

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$11.98
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: PRIME-BOOKS

Added

Not added

$13.61
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: RoseBookz

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and on-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place Hardcover – January 3, 2007

by Eric Abrahamson (Author), David H. Freedman (Author)

4.0 119 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$13.62","priceAmount":13.62,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"62","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Ea%2Bc4lIs0Ld5H9HYH408cvtFuOPRrpMWFSdlxtClzwHo2vqcQx3x0BUVKvoZfEBxAnEKPTXxJBjg2R5MWVWIQELNNqRaN2JWD4M87zmw%2F36xYISn6Ecvp60eUwGZQbH82caCFi3vuN%2BsciPNt1NTndUF1qT2tYZfkRjDW2Mgos%2B0eT0S%2BKNrZglJ2%2B9WTOt8","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.86","priceAmount":7.86,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"86","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Ea%2Bc4lIs0Ld5H9HYH408cvtFuOPRrpMWyXOjcVLlLqt8WIy259IuskJWdIoZZXKFwS2Dpwv6ypLajoto1oT1LAhvS5tHy0GXPaQXIQdd%2FvoXFsYVQFDu%2F1oTKyl6l9Qws5UoKY1r0hUwoH7GuTMugCpRDMWhSL2uscibiCEsj9f2RtmgkkSARHo0%2F4D5EgXV","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Ever since Einstein's study of Brownian Motion, scientists have understood that a little disorder can actually make systems more effective. But most people still shun disorder-or suffer guilt over the mess they can't avoid. No longer!With a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the hidden benefits of mess,A Perfect Mess overturns the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, organization, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Drawing on examples from business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahmson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones.Applying this idea on scales both large (government, society) and small (desktops, garages), A Perfect Mess uncovers all the ways messiness can trump neatness, and will help you assess the right amount of disorder for any system. Whether it's your company's management plan or your hallway closet that bedevils you, this book will show you why to say yes to mess.

From Publishers Weekly

The premise of this pop business book should generate reader goodwill—who won't appreciate being told that her messy desk is "perfect"? But despite their convincing defense of sloppy workstations, Columbia management professor Abrahamson (Change Without Pain) and author Freedman (Corps Business, etc.) squander their reader's indulgence by the end. Their thesis is solid enough: that organizational efforts tend to close off systems to random, unplanned influences that might lead to breakthroughs. But too many of the book's vaguely counterintuitive examples—to cite just one, that Ultimate Fighting is actually less injurious than boxing—stray from the central theme, giving their argument a shapeless, meandering feel. The authors prefer sprawling Los Angeles to fastidiously designed Paris and natural landscaping to lawns, decry clutter consultants, tight scheduling and "the bias towards neatness programmed into most of us." Noting that "organizations can be messy in highly useful ways," they urge companies to scrap long-term strategic planning, make contracts flexible and relinquish control over some processes. The advice is good and the arguments intriguing, and the book will probably be widely cited by those who have always resented neatniks. Too bad it's, well, such a mess. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Flying utterly in the face of conventional wisdom, the authors turn the world of organization on its head to examine how messy systems can be more effective than highly organized ones. Neatness for its own sake, they say, not only has hidden costs in terms of man-hours that could be spent doing other work but it turns out that the highly touted advantages may not even exist. More loosely defined, moderately disorganized people and businesses seem to be more efficient, more robust, and more creative than the obsessively neat. As examples, the authors cite a hardware store crammed to the gills with every sort of product in seemingly disorganized fashion that does twice the business of the "neat" one down the block; a grade school where the students are allowed random access to learning materials with no structured lessons, and no discipline problems; and the seemingly chaotic life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who refuses to make appointments and sees everyone on the fly. The chronically messy will revel in the anecdotes but may need to skip the terminology. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

David H. Freedman is the author of three books, and is a business and science journalist who has written for The Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, and Wired, among others. He lives in Massachusetts.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

January 3, 2007
Dimensions

5.75 x 1 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316114758
ISBN-13

978-0316114752
See all details

Matthew Stewart
325
Paperback
45 offers from $4.71

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; First Edition (January 3, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316114758
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316114752
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,401,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,302 in Motivational Management & Leadership
- #13,580 in Business Processes & Infrastructure
- #135,476 in Self-Help (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.0 119 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

119 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Lee L. Lee

The first book you should read if you are an imperfect organizer.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

By profession I am a Professional Organizer, but hidden inside of me is a totally disorganized person who struggles every day with the chaos and disorder in my life. I've read many of the "get organized" books, but was frustrated by my inability to follow through with the sense of perfection they required. "A Perfect Mess..." is a refreshing change. It was extremely helpful with organizational ideas, but it allowed me to be less than perfect. It is full of shortcuts that allowed me to achieve my goals but drop my idealistic methods. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of the "how to" books on organization and would like to read a book written by someone who really understands.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Humberto Souza

The Benefits of "some"mess

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2008

Verified Purchase

Some years ago I discovered that almost half of world population was not as organized as I thought they might be, I discovered I was normal!!! and without any guilt.
This book reframes mess into new perspective. Some chapters called my attention, Ch 1 - The Cost of Neatness; Ch 3 - Types of Mess; Ch 4 - The benefits of mess and Ch 12 - Pathological Mess.
I am a firm believer that some mess is normal and sometimes necessary to enhance creativeness and you may read this book and Time Management for Unmanageable People and, for sure you will reframe your thoughts: "Mess is Often in the Eyes of the BEHOLDER"
Humberto Souza - Brazil

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ilya Grigorik

The costs of organization

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2009

Verified Purchase

"Being organized" is often used as a compliment - as a society we admire the quality and strive to get better at it ourselves. Perhaps not surprisingly, a billion dollar industry of consultants, authors, products, and methodologies has formed around this field, all vying for our attention and dollars. However, as Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman point out, there is a hidden cost to "being organized", and it can be taken to an extreme. Really, how many plastic boxes and label dispensers do you really need?

We all depend on order and consistency in our daily life, but it's the variety that's the spice! The authors cover a number of examples, varying from personal organization, to our gardens, and even show how large corporations can benefit from a certain amount of disorder.

The provided examples are interesting, but I could not help but to feel that the authors could have, ironically, benefited from more organization. There is no central idea to the book, short of 'embrace a little disorder', and the anecdotes are interesting but hardly conclusive.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Laura Ann Johnson

When is Volume 2 coming out?

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2007

Verified Purchase

Glad the authors used Kathy Waddill's name for one of the organizers in their book because she promotes being organized ENOUGH. But, when is volume 2 coming out? I could think of LOTS more stuff that could be put in this book. For one thing, it is a Southern compliment (I personally think) to say to someone, "You are a MESS!" and it is very nice in the South to be messy in an eccentric kind of way. Also, even if the authors generalized about different countries (cultures?), I think that there is probably a messy/creative niche of people everywhere. At least, I seem to find them! I must be a mess!

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Levy

I live as a perfect mess and like to share this with others to ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

I live as a perfect mess and like to share this with others to show that I am not the only one.

Helpful

Colette R Alexander

An interesting read...

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is quite an eye-opener to the hidden costs of being tidy and organised. It is quite refreshing for a 'random' person like myself to find a book that has helped me to justify my organisational patterns to those around me who think I should be more orderly! Usually I feel guilty after reading something about organisation... it's nice to feel vindicated for once.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Fields

Little Substance Plenty of Anecdotes

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2008

Verified Purchase

Fun read. Waste of paper. If you are looking for some proof that mess, even possibly your mess, is good, do not expect to find the proof. The book is mostly full of anecdotes about the success of messy scenarios. Some examples are backed by studies and evidence, but most are not. I could easily see a separate book that would contradict the evidence in this book, as well as plenty of anecdotes explaining failed scenarios because of too much mess. Also, the book is not well-written in places where sentences end in a preposition.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

peter beyer

You well see messiness in a new balanced way.

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2013

Verified Purchase

We strive for simple and orderliness in a complicated not so simple universe. This book will help find value in a optimal balance of organization and constructive, creative messiness.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Jesus Garcia

Great work, but

Reviewed in Mexico on January 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

I’d recommend to read Taleb’s incerto collection first, or at least read the black swan. This book (A perfect mess) explains why it’s not a good idea to obsess with order, but it doesn’t mean that order is a bad thing or that everything must be a mess. I mention this because in his work, Taleb mention that we usually think in dualities (black or white, right or left), when most of the times things are in a middle point. So I think we should find an optimal point between order and disorder, the one that suit us fine to work or to live better.

Amazon Customer

Ramassis d'exemples sans analyse de ceux-ci. N'as pas été ...

Reviewed in Canada on January 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Ramassis d'exemples sans analyse de ceux-ci. N'as pas été lu jusqu'à la fin aucune fois, car entrepris par au moins 5 lecteurs différents et tous ont abandonné ce classeur d'exemples non-vérifiables. L'auteur aurait pu terminer ce livre plus tôt. Un mauvais investissement sans aucun divertissement inclus.

Translate review to English

M.A. Swinkels

+1

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is a pamflet, a heartfelt defense of not wasting your time on organizing stuff around you, or on silly things like strategic planning.. The writer supports his opinion with a lot of references and real world examples. This book was an eye opener to me.

2 people found this helpful

G. Moreno

A pearl

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

A splendid book! Original, sharp, clever... and comforting. I don't give the 5 stars because as a dour teacher I am a meaner marker (I want a book to be perfect), but I loved it. Congratulations to the authors. Cheers!

One person found this helpful

See more reviews