Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution (Paperback)

~ (Author) "There are no excellent companies..." (more)
Key Phrases: constructive defiance, leadership prescriptions, total customer responsiveness, United States, Federal Express, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Addressing American industry's continuing decline in foreign and domestic markets, Peters (In Pursuit of Excellence) here offers a detailed plan for unstructured business activity in which some readers will see not only chaos but anarchy. Nevertheless, the author's perception of high quality as a determining consumer motivation and his radical recipe for achieving it are persuasive. Noting that smaller service-oriented businesses like Federal Express prosper while mammoth GE and GM falter, Peters would largely eliminate top-heavy management superstructures in favor of creative worker involvement and customer participation, with supervisors on hand to encourage. This textbook cites dozens of specific business situations and person-to-person responses in support of its step-by-step instructions for turning a failing enterprise aroundif those involved can act fast. 150,000 first printing; Fortune Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In contrast to the mass of oversimplified business survival manuals, this one justifies itself. After demonstrating in his previous books ( In Search of Excellence , with Robert Waterman, and A Passion for Excellence ) what he calls the "nice-to-do" in order for an organization to achieve success, Peters now proposes the "must-do" to survive in explosively changing times. His 45 "prescriptions" for survival boil down to enlightened leadership through innovation and flexibility in management style and organizational structure. Essential. A.J. Anderson, G . S.L . I . S . , Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (November 30, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060971843
• ISBN-13: 978-0060971847
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,946 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably great if you haven't read Passion for Excellence, July 21, 2000

By	Versteeg, Marcel (Hoofddorp, Netherlands) - See all my reviews

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).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Oldie but a Goodie, February 6, 2003

By	Jay Friedman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book with Peters' exuberant, jazzy style!!, March 22, 1999

By A Customer

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.