TV REVIEW : Trying to Make Sense of ‘Chaos’ in Management

What do you do if you’re a fabulously wealthy author looking for new horizons to conquer?

Well, if you’re Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence” and other best-sellers, you become a one-man TV gang, producing and hosting specials that, oddly enough, feature the ideas in your latest book. “Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution,” airing tonight at 10 on Channel 28, is Peters’ latest PBS venture. And, like last season’s “Excellence in the Public Sector,” “Chaos” is an entertaining if uneven mix.

First and foremost, “Chaos” is a showcase for Peters, a whirl of energy who comes across as the Robin Leach of marketing. Peters is the star of this freewheeling celebration of the power of information technology--he works a Dallas audience, the framework of the show, like Oprah Winfrey facing down a group of Harvard MBAs, setting up interview segments and visits to innovative companies. He gets laughs--and he makes his points.

The main points:

* The business world is moving at warp speed, benefitting those who are constantly improving and changing.

* The information revolution is powering this dramatic change, enabling even tiny companies to compete with and win against Fortune 500 behemoths.

* Those who don’t join in will be left in the dust.

“Chaos” profiles some of the winners, including an advertising group that uses computer disks as a sales tool, pioneering a new form of marketing; and a clothing retailer who has shrunk its ordering cycle from nine weeks to three days, enabling it to cut inventory substantially while ensuring that every item is always in stock.

Even with Peters’ hoopla, “Chaos” ultimately is thought provoking--a show with ideas worth examining. It is Part 1 of a three-part series by Peters’ company. Other segments are scheduled for next Tuesday and Dec. 26.