Despite the claims of conventional wisdom, business and education can learn from each other. An examination of "In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best Run Companies," by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, reveals several ideas and practices that schools can use effectively. (1) A bias for action: hold daily administrative team meetings and replace standing committees with task forces. (2) Stick close to the customer: conduct intensive, ongoing, followup studies of graduates to test educational relevance. (3) Autonomy and entrepreneurship: seek out and encourage those who will champion innovations. (4) Productivity through people: provide teachers with comparative feedback on their performance and celebrate their successes. (5) Hands-on management: building level administrators should keep a hand in teaching and maintain high visibility. (6) Stick to the basics: monitor the achievement of student course objectives closely. (7) Keep the organizational structure simple: give individual schools a large measure of autonomy. (8) Simultaneous looseness and tightness: while allowing initiative and autonomy, insist on the observance of certain core values. (PGD)