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Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
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Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

 
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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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Product Details
Author:Stephen C. Lundin
Hardcover:112 pages
Publisher:Hyperion
Publication Date:March 08, 2000
Language:English
ISBN:0786866020
Package Length:8.4 inches
Package Width:5.5 inches
Package Height:0.6 inches
Package Weight:0.6 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 243 reviews

Features
  • ISBN13: 9780786866021

  • Condition: New

  • Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed


Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:3.5
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4Who says work can't be fun?  Jun 06, 2010
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.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

1You cannot create management philosophies based on fiction  May 12, 2010
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.

4Fish  May 11, 2010
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.

5A MUST READ  Apr 23, 2010
If you want to change the culture in your business for the better, read this book.

5Everybody Should Have a Copy  Mar 14, 2010
Interesting book, not too long and not hard to read. Inspirational especially for those who may be looking for a boost emotionally to do a better job. It concentrates not only on work life but on your personal improvement as well. A good purchase.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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