This picture that appeared in Time Magazine showing the office of Al Gore proves to me that he is a scatterbrain. I klnow because I am a recovering messy office dingbat myself. Some years ago the fabled direct marketeer Joe Sugarman decided to visit the most successful richest people he could find to see if there was a common thread. There was and it was a clean well organized neat office with a clear desk. I’ve noticed this too. The super rich with no exceptions all have uncluttered desks. I cannot keep my desk uncluttered for more than a couple of days after throwing everything on it into a box. When people visit they usually yell “Call the police, your place has been ransacked!”
The super rich with no exceptions all have uncluttered desks.
Because they delegate… 😉
I agree with Dvorak.
Nice carbon footprint with 3 30″ monitors. I hope he is buying carbon offsets for those!
#3
Plus the 30″ TV… the guy sure knows how to multitask…
More pathological anti-Gore drivel from Dvorak. I knew as soon as the TIME article that this picture comes from came out, that it would only be a matter of days before JCD would blow his nut. Thanks for being so predictable, John.
Meanwhile, lets all ponder the absurdity of the notion that the “super rich” are inherently so much better than the rest of us. Or that Gore himself is somehow poverty-stricken. Or that business leaders make good civic leaders. All are demonstratibly false.
Here’s a conference call interview Gore recently did due to his new book “The Assault on Reason”:
[edit: pls use tinyurl] – http://tinyurl.com/23ppet
The journalists seem to be of the liberal stripe, but I don’t care. It’s the answers Gore give that show what kind of leader he would be. Intelligent. Inciteful. He even pronounces his words correctly. All a far cry from what we have in the White House today. And his main message is that most journalists and media outlets today are knee-jerk regurgitators of their own prejudices & economic interests. So, again, let me congratulate you John. You sure know how to prove a point.
I hope the guy runs for President, with Barak Obama as his running mate, not just because I think it would be the best ticket available for America going forward, but also because I’d sleep with a tickled smile on my face for the next 8yrs from knowing that JCD was grinding his teeth to powder over the same timeframe.
Later 😉
Actually, he should be halfway through his second term right now….
According to Bill Bryson “I only ever knew one journalist with a tidy desk, and he was eventually arrested for molesting small boys. Make of that what you will: but just bear it in mind the next time somebody with a tidy desk invites you camping.””
I have a very messy desk, and I should definitely be president.
I’m just saying …
This post is so stupid, I’ll just assume this is one of Dvorak’s throw-away cranky, goofball posts which keeps people coming back to heckle him.
“The super rich with no exceptions all have uncluttered desks.”
Right, because as we all know, Bill Gates would be the best person to be POTUS. Much more so than the former two-time VPOTUS and popular vote getter in the 2000 election.
And as we all know, Joe Sugarman, “the best-selling author and top copywriter who achieved legendary fame in direct marketing” and is famous for selling millions of dollars of BluBlocker sunglasses is the go-to person for determining who should lead the most powerful country in the world. Indeed, I can only assume that his research on clean desks was published in peer reviewed journals and determined to be valid. Right?
Sarcasm aside, in my experience, the “super rich” I’ve had to deal with who had clean desks generally didn’t review hard copies of anything. The might get a report/memo, but that would be whisked away shortly after it was acted on (and rarely read anyway).
Rather, they had people tell them what stuff said and they made decisions all day based on that input. Or they were just wheeling and dealing on the phone. Or, finally, they had their assistants “clean up this shit.”
I fully agree with Dvorak……..What a mess! I mean really…pay someone to clean it up! Imagine the back seat of his car with all the fast food wrappers!
Jesus, #5 and #9. JCD makes a light hearted post and you guys come on here and throw a long winded tantrum. Did John run over your dog or something? Sure he’s opinionated, and the anti-Bush stuff is really really old no matter who it’s from, but if you didn’t want to hear his opinion then why even read his blog of all websites?
#5 – O67
“Meanwhile, lets all ponder the absurdity of the notion that the “super rich” are inherently so much better than the rest of us. Or that Gore himself is somehow poverty-stricken. Or that business leaders make good civic leaders. All are demonstratibly false.”
Not only that, but they’re all implicit premises of John C’s argument…
I suggest that any interested party take a gander at the workplaces of the great scientists and philosophers (i.e., people who have labored to enrich humankind – instead of themselves), which will invariably be found to be remarkably similar to Gore’s in their (apparent, but not actual) disorganization.
That photo gives me new respect for the guy…
Super-rich? Uncluttered, simpleton-like focus? Looks like Bush is your man.
#12: Go easy on 5 & 9; they are still suffering from that perpetual someone-peed-in-my-cheerios attitude because the Great Prophet of Global Warming isn’t in the White House. At least he shaved off the Unibomber beard that he was sporting there for some time… (PS spare the politically-bashing responses; I’m no Bush-bot, just call ’em like I sees ’em!)
I agree with Dvorak.
All the people I respect and aspire to be like had messy desks or dwellings. Generally, the more one dissociates himself from the mundane routines and expectations of life, such as tidying up and social acceptability, the more one has the time to think and work.
I always got the feeling that Mr. Dvorak is a card-carrying member of the cult of the affluent, upwardly-mobile, haves. Many of my friends hold wealth as the test of success. It seems Mr. Dvorak would fit well with them. I’d love for him to share in our pointless discussions of philosophy or science. They are pointless because the rich and their aspirants rarely have the time to think for themselves. Mention Descartes, Spinoza, Plato, Sartre, Keats, Wilde, Godel, Einstein, or any other mover and there is only name recognition. You can’t build a tower of wealth, all the time protecting your investments and leveraging this for that, and have a deep intellectual life, too.
Maybe you can. I’d love to be proven wrong. The only super-rich man I can sense has this type of life is Warren Buffet. Even still, the life of the affluent is so foreign to me as to be repulsive. Sour Grapes? I’m sure.
13. Would W even have a desk? I’d think he’d be too busy presidenting to have a desk.
I always thought a clean orderly desk was the sign of a sick mind….
I wonder where in that post it says the successful and super rich are “better” than the rest of us. Hmmm. Let me look again. Nope, not seeing it. Can one of you boneheads who see it in there tell me where it is?
“The super rich with no exceptions all have uncluttered desks.”
He is super rich. Is he the only exception.
“Sure he’s opinionated, and the anti-Bush stuff is really really old no matter who it’s from, but if you didn’t want to hear his opinion then why even read his blog of all websites?”
I thought I addressed this in my first sentence:
“This post is so stupid, I’ll just assume this is one of Dvorak’s throw-away cranky, goofball posts which keeps people coming back to heckle him.”
I would add that heckling him for his stupid blog posts is easy and fun. Especially fun when “concerned” readers feel the need to rush to his defense. That’s the best. Do you think, Dvorak’s curled in a fetal position on this floor because somebody was sarcastic to him on his blog? Better get in there and save him!
…
As for, “Great Prophet of Global Warming”, and #14’s plea to be “spared,” don’t worry, the lameness of the commentary speaks for itself. (“Unibomber beard”, so clever)
Of course the super rich have a clean desk, if I could afford a personal assistant to do my chores and clean my desk before interviews, it would be clean too! bwhahaha
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I just don’t agree with anyone who says that cluttered offices are bad.
I’ve known some REALLY productive and HIGHLY smart people who have offices that look like that picture. (and I’m not talking about myself!)
And I’m not saying this because I like Al Gore — who, I believe, would have read the memos and got off his butt to stop 911. (unlike another president I won’t name)
BTW, is that THREE monitors he has hooked to his computer! Cool!
I didn’t know any of my OSs allowed for that. (I run the main three)
It is coming closer to my idea that the walls and desktops of cubicles should be huge flat screen monitors where you can make virtual piles of your projects!
PS: The super rich don’t have any keys, either. The number of keys on your ring indicates your class standing in America.
#5 – Check your history on how the Gore family were given wealth. Think Armand Hammer, buying a mountain for Al Sr. and then leasing it back, A fascinating story of how some politico’s get taken care of. Kinda like the Clinton’s with Whitewater, Or Bush with his Oil Buddies.
Me, I don’t trust any of them. All they are elected to do is to take care of their buddies who paid for the elections. And it seems like the guy on TV the most, who seems friendly wins. Their motto seems to be – Say Anything (to get elected).
Here’s a tidbit for you. Did you know that while people whine about Bush’s low approval ratings, Congress ratings are actually lower than Bush’s. Seems like that mandate for change, wasn’t much of a mandate.
Bush – An Imbecile
Gore – A dork and a loon (he reminds me of Peanut Carter)
Pelosi – Shrill (think fingernails and chalkboards)
Maybe John has a point, we need someone far above the fray. Somebody with a spotless offfice. Who’s an expert at the talking head thing. How about Buffett – He’s got the talking head thing down pat, and clearly knows how to delegate. Or Gates – He surely knows how to make bureacracies jump, and now is picking meaningful problems to focus on. I would trust either of those guys before any of the current monkey suits who will sell you out in a second to get re-elected.
My bosses desk is a toxic sink of coffee cups, cigarette ashes and papers, magazines, cell phone chargers and the occasional fossilized biscuit wrapper surfacing from the bottom of the stack. As IT I occasionally have to minister to his computer and I’m a bit squeamish about touching his keyboard, as it’s covered with a layer of something that would be solidified smog if we were in LA, but we’re not.
But hey, he’s the guy with the classic ‘Vette that vacations in the mountains two or three times a year, while I toil wearily and forever at my immaculate, well organized, everything in it’s place desk.
#25 – Read up on these things called Video cards. Your OS can deal with it (Win 2000 forward). More often than not, it’s a hardware issue. You can put multiple videocards in a desktop and windows will recognize most of the time. Some of the cards can drive 4 monitors. Also, there is some software that can work around some hardware constraints if you are running multiple PC’s (maxvista).
a messy desk is a more productive desk (google it and there are lots of resources about this). The only organization required is the one that works for you. Being a neatnik for the sake of looking good is a waste of time. Give me a productive candidate who’s messy over a wealthy neat one any day.
The funny part is that he apparently is reading the Drudge Report.
I like the way he has a psychedelic frog on the wall. Suppose he has licked a few? Is this a inside joke for the benefit of his hippie supporters?
Imagine what the Oval Office would look like if he were to get elected. It would probably look like a cross between a rain forest and a land fill.