Customer Reviews

Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution

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Tom Peters, with Passion for Excellence, has been a great inspiration for me to start all kinds of innovations in customer service (quite some years later I still got positive responses out of the market) and my organization back in the 80s. You could say he was my "guru". So, when Thriving on Chaos was published, I immediately purchased it and start reading it with high expectations. How unfortunate .... as I became quickly very disappointed (I was never able to finish it in total). It was too much of the same as in Passion for Excellence. Just different words to many of the same topics. A professional writer who wants to get more money out of you while not providing you with more knowledge. I stopped buying more books from Tom Peters and was for some time very hesitant buying other management books. Now, many years later, I sometimes go back to the book without all these emotions I had when I bought it. I have to admit there are many inspiring subjects in it, some of them better described than in Passion for Excellence. So my conclusion is that the book can be very helpful for people who need inspiration for change and innovation, even though it is already quite some years old and has nothing in it about todays subjects like the Web. But as I have started with Passion for Excellence, I will probably never be able to rate Thriving on Chaos as high as Passion for Excellence (five stars).

I just read this and two things stand out. First, there are some things that really never change, and as a result, Peters makes a huge impact here.

On the other hand, this was written before the net, much of the new automation inventions and much of the new technology as well. So, you just have to adjust his words to fit today's business environment.

Now, for the book. What he says is common sense to many workers and managers alike, but is looked at in horror by upper management and CEOs. So many CEOs believe that if they don't have total control over everything, then they're "out of control" and thus, running a bad organization.

NOT TRUE. As Peters indicates, if you hire competent people and give them the tools they need to do their work, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised with the quality of work that comes from them. In other words, drive down the decision making and create an autonomous environment for employees and your organizational flexibility increases, your profits will rise and with the right measures, you will succeed.

This is a kind-of-classic that all business leaders should at least have read. However, I think books such as Built To Last and First, Break All The Rules are more up to date and have since developed newer, more relevant theories that apply to all industries.

This book presents a strategy for meeting the uncertainty of the current competitive markets through creating customer responsiveness, pursuing fast-paced innovation, achieving flexibility by empowering people, learning to work in an environment of change, abandoning conventional wisdom, and the reconceiving of organizational systems. This is a fascinating book that has the distinct and unmistakable quality of Tom Peters' exuberant, jazzy style. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, author of Stern's SourceFinder Master Directory to HR and Management Information and Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder.

Having read almost all of Peter's works, I find this to be one of his best. As we all navigate through challenging times globally now, his attacks on status quo serve as timely reminders of the need for constant improvement."

Feedback is always welcomeAs always, feedback or comments are welcome

Dr. John Hogan CHA CHE
HoganHospitality
HospitalityEducators com

Although Peters first wrote this book nearly twenty years ago, many of his insights are now reaching Prime Time. Thriving on Chaos is obviously a classic, yet what surprised me the most is how Peters intuitively understands that some things never change. Business serves the customer (period).

Innovation, Flexibility, Productivity, Competitive Advantage, Supply-Chain Management, ... In the end, the ultimate master is the customer (at least in the free world). No one commands or forces the customer to buy a given product (or service), it's a free market. Consumers buy or don't buy based on perceived benefits. Products either meet customer demands or risk being ripped to shreds by the simple act of non-purchase.

As an example, I'm a vegetarian and am highly sensitive to food labels containing the words "Natural Flavors" which may contain meat and meat by-products. Therefore, I select those products not containing such mystery ingredients and punish those that use them (through non-purchase).

Much of what Peters talks about is taking shape today. Ivory-Tower management superstructures are all but a distant memory. Creativity, Innovation, and Empowerment are all the rage as developed countries are grasping for an edge in a world gone mad. Wholesale shifting of jobs overseas, corporate scandals, and increasing government regulation set employees and managers on edge. Prescription for change includes active customer participation in creating products and tapping into the creative potential of worker's minds.

Thriving on Chaos is sure to jumpstart your brain:

Peters says that "'If it aint broke, you just haven't looked hard enough' Fix it anyway." So true. Good enough is never good enough. Since the advent of the Net, customers are asserting control like never before. And, competitors are swarming like a pack of hungry sharks ready to tear off a piece of your market share.

To survive you need to learn to love change, and you need to learn how to Thrive on Chaos!

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Michael Davis, Editor - Byvation

"Business Success through Innovation"

This is easily TP's best work to date. The concrete examples are terrific and energy exudes from each page. The book is structured in a way for easy reading - it's hard to put down