Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives

He’s a visiting fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford University and lives in Oxford with his family. . He’s the author of the bestselling The Undercover Economist, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, Adapt, and The Logic of Life. He has been named Economics Commentator of the Year (2014), won the Rybczynski Prize (2014–15) for the best business-relevant economics writing, and won the Bastiat Prize for ec

Using research from neuroscience, psychology, social science, as well as captivating examples of real people doing extraordinary things, Tim Harford explains that the human qualities we value – creativity, responsiveness, resilience – are integral to the disorder, confusion, and disarray that produce them. In Messy, you’ll learn about the unexpected connections between creativity and mess; understand why unexpected changes of plans, unfamiliar people, and unforeseen events can help generate new ideas and opportunities as they make you anxious and angry; and come to appreciate that the human inclination for tidiness – in our personal and professional lives, online, even in children&rsquo

"Embrace the chaos" according to Andrea P.. I can’t resist a new Tim Harford book. I’ve learned a lot from each of his other books, and I’ve enjoyed reading every one of them. I like his writing style, and because his voice is so familiar (he has a show on BBCEmbrace the chaos Andrea P. I can’t resist a new Tim Harford book. I’ve learned a lot from each of his other books, and I’ve enjoyed reading every one of them. I like his writing style, and because his voice is so familiar (he has a show on BBC4) I often hear him speaking when I read his words. It’s pretty nifty. So it was with great anticipation that I pre-ordered Messy and started reading it.Then Harford played a trick on me - he made me uncomfortable. I like for things to be organized. So there’s a certain amount of clutter I always seem to need to clear away to get down to the work. ) I often hear him speaking when I read his words. It’s pretty nifty. So it was with great anticipation that I pre-ordered Messy and started reading it.Then Harford played a trick on me - he made me uncomfortable. I like for things to be organized. So there’s a certain amount of clutter I always seem to need to clear away to get down to the work. Martin Laurence said Tacky title, exceptionally good book!. You must read this book! Tim Harford's writing style is exceptional. He gets the density of ideas per page just right: a higher density would be overwhelming and a lower density would be long-winded. Few authors are so good at striking such a compromise, consistently, in every book they write.Messy's main thread is how unexpected (often bad) situations can produce great outcomes. It argues that we should try to provoke such situations to improve our lot, and gives countless vivid examples of this. The one that hits closest to home in my case is changing tasks every few years (or even cha. K. J. DellAntonia said like those describing the problems with a rigidly fixed approach. “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 p

That alertness, in turn, fuels creativity, problem solving, better driving, resilience, innovation, and much more. --Adrian Liang, The Book Review. An Best Book of October 2016: For those who think that a spick-and-span desk is an indication of high productivity, Harford's fascinating investigation of how disorder can spark innovation will open your eyes to all kinds of situations when tidiness is not a virtue. But if the only thing you get out of Messy is peace with the level of disorder at your coworkers', staff's, or spouse's workspace, then that alone is priceless.