After decades with Knopf,
influential management guru
Peters switches to DK in an effort to
"reinvent the business book," and while the results don't quite live up
to the hyperbole, the new publisher allows for a looser design strategy
that complements the author's increasingly stream-of-consciousness
writing. Gray dotted lines lead from the main text to sidebars topped
with category-identifying icons, and words' size, color and even
typeface refuse to stay stable within a single sentence. (Design is
clearly on his mind; one of the book's best passages is a rant against
the poor ergonomics of the desk chairs in hotel suites.) The book's
themes are mostly the same ones Peters has been developing since 1997's
The Circle of Innovation and its follow-ups: small professional service
firms are the wave of the future, successful companies sell dreams
instead of products, and so on. Some of his ideas, like the unlimited
potential of the Internet, have begun to wear a bit thin, while others
need overhauling thanks to the recession. There are strong chapters on
the spending power of women and the need to restructure the American
education system, but not all the new twists are as satisfying. He
takes on the 9/11 attacks in two business analogies: while the first
interpretation of 9/11-small improvisational teams succeed against
bloated infrastructures-rings true, many readers may find the second
conclusion ("the Age of Large Numbers of Human Beings Crammed into Tall
Towers is over") a bit tactless. But give Peters credit for being
willing to stick his neck out, and expect loyal readers to follow him
down this path once again.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
