Success at Work : Techniques : A Cluttered Desk

By Stephen Bucaro

I followed my boss to a co-worker's cubicle where my boss requested a certain document from co-worker. The actual surface of co-workers desk was not visible because it was covered with a cluttered pile of papers, catalogs, booklets, and other paraphernalia. I was prepared to see my co-worker embarass himself by not being able to locate requested document in that messy pile.

Some people mistakenly think having a cluttered desk will trick their boss into thinking they are keeping busy. Instead, a cluttered desk makes your boss think following:

- You are disorganized - You are a procastinator - you have poor time management skills - you have low productivity - You have lost control

My co-worker pushed his hand down into that cluttered mess and, to my amazement, instantly produced requested document. Apparently this guy had a mental map of location of every item in seemly disorganized pile on his desk. Maybe we misjudge people that keep a cluttered desk.

People think that a worker with a messy desk does messy work. Misjudgment or not, if you have a messy desk, your boss might not want to risk giving you an important assignment. You will get only low profile, boring grunt jobs. Fair or not, that's way it is.

Things that clutter a desk:

- Pictures of family, pets, etc. - Trinkets, plants, figurines, signs - Food, cups, bowls, silverware, wrappers, crumbs

I'm not saying that you can't have any personal items on your desk. Displaying a family photograph gives impression of a stable, reliable individual, but too many photograph's on your desk sends message that you would rather be somewhere else. A plant on your desk can make your cubicle seem less harsh, but too many plants makes people think that your hobby is taking over your cubicle.

The one scene that really stands out in my mind is lady with Tourette's Syndrome (when someone will shout out obscene expletives). She admits to him that she can't go around churches, or elderly, or around schools, and she is basically limited to her home. So what does Deuce do? A brilliant context reframe. I'll explain what this is in a minute. He comes up with idea to take her to a baseball game. And when her turrets kicks in, she begins to get crowd worked up, and they all start shouting with her. It really was brilliantly simple.

So what is framing and reframing? We constantly put frames around things we do and things we believe. Consider how you view your previous successes and failures. What kind of frame did you put around it? Was it a useful one?

I remember talking to my wife about learning to drive, and it was interesting to hear her say that when she was first learning, her frame was "I'll never get this!" Whereas mine was, "Oh this is a cinch!" Two completely different frames and as a result two different behaviors occurred. It took her quite a bit longer to drive a car. As we talked some more, I realized that there were differences in our mistakes as well. When she made a mistake, she would say, "Oh great I did it again!" Whereas I would say, "Oh I need to remember to do that (the right way) next time!" And I usually did.