The debate rages (in fact, it’s raged for years). But the “messy desk” folks (yes, that sometimes includes me) can now hold aloft a book that validates their somewhat disordered experience.

From Extreme Tech:

Sponsored by publisher Little, Brown and Co., the competition promoted “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder,” by Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman, a new book that argues neatness is overrated, costs money, wastes time and quashes creativity.

“We think that being more organized and ordered and neat is a good thing and it turns out, that’s not always the case,” said Freedman.

“Most of us are messy, and most of us are messy at a level that works very, very well for us,” he said in an interview. “In most cases, if we got a lot neater and more organized, we would be less effective.”

Sure, I now have a written excuse for never, ever straightening my office again. But take a second to look beyond the clutter — and recognize the genius of the promotional contest.

This one has all the elements of a good story. Competition. Humor. A near universal appeal to those tagged as “messy” (most of us at one point or another).

There’s even conflict:

Barry Izsak, head of the National Association of Professional Organizers, disputes the authors’ claims, saying they oversimplify and confuse mess with disorganization.

Boooo! Hiss! (Meet the bad guy — and who among you visualized the Odd Couple’s Felix Unger?)

The Promotional Contest? It Works.

I admit to a checkered past with contests.

Years ago, an art director and I worked on an internal campaign for a high tech company. They wanted their employees to file more patents, and the art director swore a vacation contest was the answer.

Naturally, I knew better.

Just as naturally, I was dead wrong.

Posters, e-mail, newsletter stories and ads — all were effective. My “Patent Today, Tan Tomorrow.” poster — combined with an inviting picture from a cruise ship (hint: sex sells) — worked particularly well.

We even pitted departments against each other.

To a bunch of stressed high-tech workers — people always under the gun of intense industry competition — the promise of an all-expenses paid vacation was just too much to resist.

Patent applications skyrocketed. The Intellectual Property office was dumbfounded. We were heroes.

The moral of today’s post?

Don’t overlook promotional contests. (A good one could even go viral.)

And don’t bother to straighten up your desk.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

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