This week, I cleaned my desk.
Not just a reorganizing-of-piles type of cleaning. I sorted through everything and even took the
Clorox wipes to it. In comparison to others, I’m not necessarily
a messy desk type of person. However, after a couple hectic weeks it begins to look
a little disheveled, and a pile or two of papers begins to form. I recently found an article online from the
University of Texas about how people perceive people who have messy desks. The study from UT found that people with
messy desks or offices are less efficient, less organized and less imaginative
then people with clean desks. And you
know what – I bet you didn't need an academic article to come to that
conclusion. Why is that? The bottom line – it can
hurt your career. If you have a messy
desk, you look like you operate in a constant state of chaos and are out of
control.
Now, I think about some of the people at my organization who
have messy desks. What I often hear from
these individuals is that, “It’s not really that messy”, or “it’s an organized
mess – I know exactly where everything is”.
Their argument essentially is that they operate just as well and
efficiently in their messy space than the person next door who is neat and
tidy. The more I think about it though –
that could be true, but it doesn't really matter. Why? Because my perception is that they aren't efficient or organized, even
if they insist they are.
I think this goes a little deeper though. Having a messy space is really undermining
their career, even if just in subtle ways.
If you’re a senior leader, buried in a mess, the perception is that
you’re in over your head, or you can’t handle the responsibility of your
role. If you’re in middle management,
you may be overlooked for special assignments, or even promotions, because
people worry that when they trust you with something important, it may
disappear in a pile of papers, never to be seen again. Consider the idea of someone wearing a clown costume
to work. I know it sounds ridiculous,
but in actuality, the job could likely still get done. However, it wouldn’t instill confidence in
others to work with or rely on that person.
Appearance is an important part of human nature, whether you agree or
not. This means that the tidiness of
your space is as important as your outfit.
Consider the study cited above as a warning to managers as
well. Are you considering promoting
someone who has a messy work space?
Perhaps it’s a mistake. It
probably seems to others as though the person might be in over their head, or
they just don’t care. Is that the type
of confidence you want to instill in staff through your new leader?
Another anecdote I've heard from messy deskers is, “It’s an
expression of who I am!” And this I
believe is true – it does seem like a messy space may be a reflection of what
is going on in someone’s head. But being
efficient, organized and creative are important in today’s workforce, and those
individuals are setting themselves behind.
I would encourage them to create a reflection at work of their best self
– especially if you don’t want to unknowingly hurt your career.
Action plan and food for thought: consider implementing a practice where
everyone tidies their work space before leaving each day. It might sound a little extreme, but as a
leader (and from an talent development perspective); in a small way it allows you to build your
people up to their greatest potential by not allowing them to undermine
themselves.
Picture: In the spirit of practicing what I preach, I've included a
picture of my desk after I cleaned up. I left out the before picture, so as not to
undermine myself or give you the wrong impression ;)
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic - leave your comments below!
