it's ok to have a messy desk

"If an untidy desk signals a messy mind, then can we say that a clean desk signals an empty mind?".

I've always subscribed to the above theory but, unfortunately, without hard data, I've been on the losing end of this argument a couple of times.
Well somebody finally came to my rescue. Eric Abrahamson, a business academic, and David Freedman, a journalist, published a book, "A Perfect Mess", showing that to have "moderately" messy desks can lead to more efficient and more creative work. Compiling several cases throughout history to backup their case, they finally show that it's ok to have "moderately" messy desks (that's the caveat and I have yet to see if I qualify in that category) . The most interesting anecdote is the discovery of penicillin, an accident only possible because of the mold created in Sir Alec Fleming's messy desk. Genius!
Read the review in the "The Daily Yomiuri" here.