Organization vs. Chaos
Nightly Business Report
Thursday, December 28, 2006
SUSIE GHARIB: When it comes to investing, for most people it pays to be organized -- for most people, but not necessarily for tonight's commentator. Here’s Myron Kandel, president of the New Hampshire Initiative for Corporate Responsibility and Investor Protection.
MYRON KANDEL, PRESIDENT, NEW HAMPSHIRE INITIATIVE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: This is the time when many people make resolutions for the new year. I’ve decided to tackle an important business issue facing everyone who works behind a desk: the cluttered desk syndrome. There are no census figures, but there must be millions of Americans whose desks are filled with piles of papers, reports, documents and other detritus of the modern business scene.
I must admit that my own desk is a mess. For most of my 25 years at CNN, it was so cluttered that it became a legendary stop on any tour of the studio. But my colleagues did marvel at how I could dig through a seemingly disorganized pile and find just what I needed. One estimate says office and home organizing products amount to a $6 billion U.S. industry. I know the arguments. A clean desk reflects an orderly mind and good work habits. It saves time and space, etcetera, etcetera. And in those rare moments -- very rare -- when I can’t find something I need right away, I may even envy the neatness freaks.
But although I respect their right to exist, that feeling quickly passes. I buy the theory that cluttered desks reflect creative minds and individualized thinking. And if we have emotional ties to what we save, that’s OK, too. So I say, let us be -- as long as we don't spill over to your desk. May clutter and neatness co-exist in a productive new year for all of us. I’m Myron Kandel.