Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

Over 500 pages of trendy, colloquial bloat from the co-anthers of, respectively, In Search of Excellence and The Assertive Woman. Largely on the basis of anecdotal evidence, this odd couple declare a back-to-basics revolution in management techniques, at the heart of which is--yes, indeed--a passion for excellence. Peters and Austin may well be on to something, but too often seem more interested in making points than reaching practicable conclusions. In fact, their central conceit--MBWA, i.e., managing by wandering around--is an accurate analogue for the stop-and-start narrative. The authors' focus is deep as well as broad, encompassing a plant manager, an Air Force general, Baltimore's mayor, an employee-owned garbage company, a mailorder house, and SAS (Scandinavian Air System) in addition to scores of variously sized corporate exemplars, from Apple Computer to Perdue Farms, et al. They also offer a welter of case studies in probing such open secrets of organizational success as superior customer/client service, innovation, recognition of achievement at all levels, and accepting occasional failures as concomitants of accomplishment. But the short-take format, which may jump from sharing/caring cant to fulsome praise of a maverick who bucked a system, is a constant distraction. Also offputting: ceaseless interjections of Q&A exercises (""How often are you out of your office? Be specific. . . Go over each in-office/inheadquarters event and ask yourself if it could not have taken place as readily on the other person's turf."") and to-do lists (""Pencil in 15 percent of your calendar time to work directly on anti-Mickey Mouse activities""). Troublesome as well is the fact that many Peters/Austin paradigms do not add up. In lauding the contractor who personally checks first with crane operators or other lower-echelon people (perish the thought of personnel!), they never quite explain how self-conscious populism sits with site supervisors and other senior executives. Even for true ""excellencites,"" the sunny-side-up text proves more than a bit unwieldy--and unworldly. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Tom Peters, public speaker and author, graduated from Cornell University and received a M.B.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. He has also received honorary doctorates from the University of San Francisco and Rhodes College.

He was in the U. S. Navy during Vietnam and later served as a senior White House drug abuse advisor (1973-74). He worked for McKinsey & Company from 1974 to 1981. He holds about 75 seminars a year and has created and starred in a series of corporate training films.

He is the co-author of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies, which was a New York Times bestseller for three years. This book and subsequent titles have become bestsellers in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Peters contributes to several newspapers and journals, including writing a bimonthly column for Forbes ASAP.

(Bowker Author Biography)