Messy - The Power Of Disorder To Transform Our Lives by Tim Harford

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives is a non-fiction book by Tim Harford. It is presented as a big-idea exploration of the benefits of messiness at home, at work, in the classroom and beyond.

Key details

• Author: Tim Harford
• Also by the author: The Undercover Economist
• Described as a provocative “big idea” book
• Draws on research from neuroscience, psychology and social science
• Includes examples of real people doing extraordinary things

Synopsis

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives examines why messiness matters, why people often resist it, and why it can be worth embracing. Tim Harford links valued human qualities such as creativity, responsiveness and resilience to the disorder, confusion and disarray that can help produce them.

The book ranges across settings including the boardroom and the classroom, and references examples from the music studio of Brian Eno to the Lincoln Memorial with Martin Luther King, Jr. It also considers how unexpected changes of plan, unfamiliar people and unforeseen events may generate new ideas and opportunities, and argues that an instinct for tidiness in personal and professional life, online and even in children’s play can conceal fragility that holds back innovation.

Related

Look out for the author’s next book, Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy.