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In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman was published in 1982. It was a sensation. But every couple of years a new set of articles and pundits tell us that it wasn't such a hot book after all.

In Search of Excellence certainly was a game-changing book. It was the first general business book on New York Times Best Seller List. As such, In Search of Excellence marks the start of the boom in business books. Authors of those books should offer send up prayers of thanks every day, for Peters and Waterman.

In Search of Excellence also changed the nature of the conversation about management. Before In Search of Excellence management books were only about the virtues of the dispassionate rational thinker who, with enough equations would save us from ourselves.

Peters and Waterman talked about the humanity of it all, the messiness of innovation, the importance of enthusiasm and other things that working managers knew made a difference, even if they had escaped the notice of the academics.

The book made heroes of managers who wandered around and innovators who believed in live-fire trials. And the worst part for the hyper-rationalists was that the authors of In Search of Excellence could crunch numbers with the best of them.

In Search of Excellence was also published at a time when it seemed that American business was in terminal decline to be replaced at the top of the commerce heap by the Japanese. It offered examples of American companies that were doing good things in an American way.

There are two main criticisms of In Search of Excellence. Let's deal with the stupid one first.

Critics note that the companies highlighted by Peters and Waterman haven't stayed successful. Really? This book was written over a quarter century ago. The men and women running those companies back then have passed into retirement and beyond.

The reality is that no company, including great ones like GE and P & G, has an unbroken run of success. Expecting that is both foolish and irrelevant.

A more telling criticism is that the research underlying the book is flawed. Knowledgeable and thoughtful experts like Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer have made this case, pointing most often to the ways the companies were selected.

They're right, and their criticism would be more important if In Search of Excellence was intended to be a full scale academic research project. It wasn't.

In Search of Excellence was the result of two knowledgeable businessmen casting their eye over the landscape of business at the time. They identified some companies that they thought would be good examples for their readers. They offered an explanation of why they thought those companies were successful.

In Search of Excellence isn't a great business book because it used bulletproof research methods. It isn't a great book because it changed the face of business publishing. It isn't even a great book because it changed the nature of our conversation about management.

In Search of Excellence is a great book because, for over twenty-five years, it has been a source of insight and inspiration for working managers. They use what they take away from the book to improve their results.

Boss's Bottom Line

The best business book for you isn't necessarily one that the experts love. The best business book for you is one that helps you get better results.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.