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Messy
Messy | Tim Harford
13 posts | 3 read | 1 reading | 32 to read
The urge to tidiness seems to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Many of us feel threatened by anything that is vague, unplanned, scattered around or hard to describe. We find comfort in having a script to rely on, a system to follow, in being able to categorise and file away. We all benefit from tidy organisation - up to a point. A large library needs a reference system. Global trade needs the shipping container. Scientific collaboration needs measurement units. But the forces of tidiness have marched too far. Corporate middle managers and government bureaucrats have long tended to insist that everything must have a label, a number and a logical place in a logical system. Now that they are armed with computers and serial numbers, there is little to hold this tidy-mindedness in check. It's even spilling into our personal lives, as we corral our children into sanitised play areas or entrust our quest for love to the soulless algorithms of dating websites. Order is imposed when chaos would be more productive. Or if not chaos, then . . . messiness. The trouble with tidiness is that, in excess, it becomes rigid, fragile and sterile. In Messy, Tim Harford reveals how qualities we value more than ever - responsiveness, resilience and creativity - simply cannot be disentangled from the messy soil that produces them. This, then, is a book about the benefits of being messy: messy in our private lives; messy in the office, with piles of paper on the desk and unread spreadsheets; messy in the recording studio, the laboratory or in preparing for an important presentation; and messy in our approach to business, politics and economics, leaving things vague, diverse and uncomfortably made-up-on-the-spot. It's time to rediscover the benefits of a little mess.
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review
janeycanuck
Messy | Tim Harford
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Pickpick

I'm not sure the message of this book really sunk in for me 😛! I definitely preferred the first half over the second half. And I really wish Tim Hartford had narrated it himself.

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Lmstraubie
Messy | Tim Harford
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I have a work related function tonight (my school's PTO fundraiser) so I stayed at work. I'm not going to get much reading done tonight, but hopefully this desk will look better.
#teachersoflitsy #librariansoflitsy

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janeycanuck
Messy | Tim Harford
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I'm really sad that Tim Hartford didn't narrate his own book.

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Liberty
Messy | Tim Harford
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I put all the entries from the #Andawaytheygo giveaway into the random name generator and @PrincessLibrarian won! Thanks to everyone for participating and stay tuned, I'll be doing it again soon. 🎉📚😘

Pruzy Aww, just missed it! 8y
Bostonmomx2 How many entries did you get? I'm thinking of giving away a book journal I ordered and decided not to use. Ya, just one book lol 8y
Liberty @Bostonmomx2 80 or 90? I lost count. 8y
See All 15 Comments
Bostonmomx2 @Liberty I just realized after I asked you have many 1000s more followers than I do lol so I'd be lucky to even get 1/4 that 😂😂 we'll see. I. Want to do it, I've just not gotten unlazy enough to post it. 8y
MrBook Congratulations, @PrincessLibrarian 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻!!!!!!! 8y
Suzze Congrats @PrincessLibrarian! More books. More books! 8y
kspenmoll Congrats @PrincessLibrarian ! 🎉🎉 8y
PrincessLibrarian Yay!!!! So excited! 😜☺️😊 8y
DebinHawaii Congrats @PrincessLibrarian !! 🎉👍 8y
Minispok Congrats @PrincessLibrarian !🎉🎉 8y
Cinfhen Yay 😊 @PrincessLibrarian 🎉💜🎉 8y
bookdrunkard78 That's great, @PrincessLibrarian ! Woo hoo!! 8y
247 likes1 stack add15 comments
review
levi
Messy | Tim Harford
Mehso-so

I enjoyed the bits of this book I read, but he made some ignorant comments about conservatives that sort of soured me on him. Don't make political statements in non-political books! When will you stupid liberal authors ever learn that? Goodness... Anyhow, this book did set me in a good direction of creativity, so I appreciated that, and I do think you should read it. Or just a bit of it, like I did.

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levi
Messy | Tim Harford
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I was shuffling through this book and came across a great reason to stop reason! Here's an ignorant comment that manages to slam President Trump, his supporters, and apparently all the Republican part, even though we LITERALLY FREED THE SLAVES. Goodness... Liberals. How awful. So glad Trump beat them all. This was a great year.

clpreston You also instituted Jim Crow ( state-sponsored racism) and segregation. Grow up. If you want to brag about being 'the Party of Lincoln', then act like it. Be like Lincoln, not Trump. 7y
3 likes1 stack add1 comment
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levi
Messy | Tim Harford
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I'm reading too many books at once, so I decided to take one out of the stack and gloss over the rest so I can't finish it and bring my number down to five. I also doubt I'll read much of that Jojo Moyes book, which is too bad. I just don't usually like books recommended by everyone! Is this just being a teen?

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KaitlinS16
Messy | Tim Harford
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I'm not sure if I'll read all of this, but I was so curious when I saw it on the library shelf!

levi SAME 8y
10 likes1 comment
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melonbooks14
Messy | Tim Harford
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"Hesitate before judging other people based on their messy desks." ✊

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melonbooks14
Messy | Tim Harford
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"They are about our reactions to diversity, again and again.

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BarbaraTheBibliophage
Messy | Tim Harford
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Finally got my GR giveaway! Judging by the nightmare of a desk under it, I might be in fact be the target audience for this book. Chapters: Creativity, Collaboration, Workplaces, Improvisation, and more.

#messy #giveawaybook #arc

Aswenson Heard about this book on the radio and couldn't recall the title! Thanks for posting! 📚 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Aswenson Was it on NPR or somewhere else? I'd like to hear it. 8y
LauraBrook Geez, this would be way easier to implement in my life than all that "life changing magic" stuff. ? 8y
See All 6 Comments
BarbaraTheBibliophage @LauraBrook I know! I'll keep you Littens posted for sure. 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Aswenson Thank you! 😘 8y
85 likes10 stack adds6 comments
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BarbaraTheBibliophage
Messy | Tim Harford
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Hey wow! I won a giveaway of Tim Harford's book Messy: The Power of Discord to Transform Our Lives. Thanks @RiverheadBooks !!

Bookzombie Congrats! 👏🙂 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Bookzombie Thanks. I guess I can't say I never win anything any more! 8y
RealLifeReading Hurray! 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @RealLifeReading Thanks - now comes the wait for book mail! 8y
79 likes5 stack adds4 comments
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foxyhedgehog
Messy | Tim Harford
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"MESSY is a deeply researched, endlessly eye-opening adventure." --Oliver Burkeman

9 likes1 stack add