A Passion for Excellence

Tom Peters and Nancy Austin wrote this 1985 follow-up to "In Search of Excellence" for leaders who wanted to move from inspiration to application. The argument is straightforward: sustained excellence runs on three rails — obsessive customer focus, relentless innovation, and treating every employee as a genuine resource rather than overhead. The book's most durable contribution is "Management by Wandering About," the simple but often-skipped idea that leaders need to leave their offices and stay connected to frontline reality. The case studies show their age — some celebrated companies later stumbled badly — and the co-authored prose lacks the electric energy of Peters at his solo best. But the core principles hold up, and for business leaders who want grounded, example-driven guidance, this remains a worthwhile read.