THE PURSUIT OF WOW!

Like an old carny barker pushing the latest elixir, Peters (Liberation Management, 1992, etc) holds out the key to business success in the post-industrial, idea-intensive economy. It doesn't, however, appear to be the kind of key that opens doors, but rather the kind of key you stick in your back and wind up until you go careening around the business world in an Energizer-bunny frenzy of manic creativity. Mixed into this entertaining spiel (``I have a friend who's a housepainter. He doesn't chug Mylanta; he doesn't pop Prozac; and he doesn't have a future, at least not by my dad's standards'') are some interviews and round-table discussions with business managers about what does and doesn't work in making projects successful, employees productive, and customers happy. The overarching attitude is one of impatience with a starched-collar approach to business as Peters exhorts the entrepreneurs of the '90s to be brave, try new things, and avoid ruts.