Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

“It was unplayable.”

1. Creativity

“You’re asking the blood in your brain to flow in another direction.”

Bowie, Eno, and Darwin: How Frustration and Distraction Help Us Solve Problems in Art, Science, and Life

2. Collaboration

“My brain is open!”

Paul Erdős and the Robbers Cave: Why Tidy Teams Have More Fun but Messy Teamwork Gets More Done

3. Workplaces

“Nobody cares what you do in there.”

Where Steve Jobs Went Wrong, and Why It’s Nobody Else’s Business Whether You Tidy Your Desk

4. Improvisation

“You ain’t got much time to think, ’cause you in the chair from now on.”

Martin Luther King, the Help Desk, and the Unexpected Benefits of Letting Go of the Script

5. Winning

“What else matters but beating him?”

Bezos, Rommel, Trump: How to Use Mess as a Weapon in Business, Politics, and War

6. Incentives

“You wouldn’t need a large army. You’d need a small SWAT team.”

The Prime Minister and the Paramedic: The Pitfalls of Imposing Tidy Targets on a Messy World

7. Automation

“But what’s happening?”

Flight 447 and the Jennifer Unit: When Human Messiness Protects Us from Computerized Disaster

8. Resilience

“Everything had to be neat and orderly. No mess.”

Broken Windows, Stomach Ulcers, and the Dangerous Belief That Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness

9. Life

“Appointments are always a no-no. Planning ahead is a no-no.”

Franklin, Schwarzenegger, and the Genius Who Hacked OkCupid: Why We Should Value Mess in Our Inbox, Our Conversations, and Our Children’s Play

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

About the Author