Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results |  | Authors: Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen
Creator: Ken Blanchard
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
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Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  245 reviews
Sales Rank: 1278
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 112
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0786866020
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.314
EAN: 9780786888825
ASIN: 0786866020
Publication Date: March 8, 2000
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Amazon.com Review
Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. --Harry C. Edwards
Product Description
Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job every day. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team. Across the street from her office is Seattles very real Pike Place Fish Market, world famous and wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful atmosphere and customer service. By applying ingeniously simple lessons learned from the actual Pike Place fishmongers, our manager learns how to energize those who report to her and effect an astonishing transformation in her workplace. Addressing todays work issues (including employee retention and burnout) with an engaging metaphor and an appealing message that applies to any sector of any organization, Fish! offers wisdom that is easy to grasp, instantly applicable, and profoundthe hallmarks of a true business classic. Based on a bestselling ChartHouse training video which has been adopted by corporations including Southwest Airlines, Sprint, and Nordstrom.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 245
 Inspiring September 8, 2010
K Mwan
I found this book to be truly inspirational. At first, I didnt get it and thought it was too simple, but as a I read on, I came to realize just how profound it is. The only advice that I can give is not to give up on it before at least 60 pages.
 Hated Seattle, book is OK September 3, 2010
mavo (Shreveport, LA United States)
What I learned: Each of us is an artist creating a unique work of art.
Memories make people's day.
Happy people treat others well. Fun leads to creativity. The time passes quickly. Having a good time is healthy at work.
Who says work can't be fun? June 6, 2010
Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI USA)
Who says work can't be fun?
Okay, there are those lists of "10 worst jobs," and books about horrible supervisors. The Dilbert collection highlights the pitfalls of today's work environment for many.
Does it have to be this way? Is there a different model for workplace behavior and performance? This book, Fish!, argues that there is.
I understand there is a minor "motivational industry" surrounding the "Fish!" model, one that emphasizes these four points:
1. Choose your attitude. Hey, you can choose to be bored, or sad, or whatever.
2. Play. Does work have to be... "work?"
3. Make their day. For both coworkers and customers.
4. Be present. Life is happening right now.
I've never attended one of the Fish! motivational seminars. I have watched the original (I think) video of the Fish! philosophy as expressed by the employees of the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle (ironically, I'm sitting in a Starbucks, drinking a cup of their Pike Place roast).
And now I've read this book, Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, by S. Lundin, H. Paul, and J. Christensen.
The slim book (barely over 100 pages) is in the format of the trials of a busy supervisor, trying to motivate her employees on "the third floor." That "third floor" has a reputation as a "toxic energy dump." Ouch! One day she finds herself at the Pike Place Fish Market. It looks like both the customers and the workers are enjoying themselves, and she begins a conversation, and eventually a relationship, with one of the employees. He introduces her to those four points noted above. She finds a way to integrate them into her section, and employee attitudes, and work performance, improve. They all live happily, ever after.
Well, it is a story!
I would summarize the book, and the philosophy, into these ideas:
A. Supervisors, actively work to improve the working environment.
B. Employees, actively work to improve the working environment.
I liked the book, and I appreciate the message. I think all of us can think of organizations, units, sections, or businesses that would benefit from all or a portion of these ideas being implemented. Of course, there usually is resistance, by some or all, to some or all of the proposed changes. What do you do when the 25 year veteran decides to pursue a policy of "noncooperation?" How much buy-in does one need to get these changes to work? How much resistance becomes "fatal?"
I think this book has some interesting ideas and suggestions when employees decide that they want a change. Then these, or other suggestions, can be sown in a fertile environment.
Bottom line? This book is food for thought. You'll finish reading it in an hour or less. It's worth that hour.
 You cannot create management philosophies based on fiction May 12, 2010
Bart W. Tangredi (Los Angeles, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a fictional work. The people in it aren't real. Essentially, the author makes up a story to prove how well his management principles work. Of course they're going to work - he's writing the story. There is no empirical evidence from real companies applying these concepts to real people. And seriously, have you ever worked in a real corporate environment that actually encourages you to have fun? You'll be written up quicker than you can read this piece of fictional garbage. These types of books are written for corporate management types who are far removed from the people who work for them. You want to motivate employees - spend time with them, show them you value them as people and reward them accordingly. Find me a manager who does that instead of someone who sits up in his ivory tower, and wastes his time reading some ridiculous BS like FISH or Who Moved My Cheese. The bottom line is - anyone can make up a story. Just because you put it on paper and can sucker corporate American into buying it, doesn't make it true. I could write a story that says I'm a superhero but the reality is, if I jump off a building, I'm still going to die. But at least that would make a better story than FISH.
Fish May 11, 2010
Riley Smith (Boston)
The book waa good and it was inspiring to a point. It brings up old tried and true priciples that we sometimes need to be reminded of. Worth a read.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 245
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