Product Description

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 Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #919 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-08
• Released on: 2000-03-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 115 pages

Amazon.com
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

From AudioFile
Do you work in a "toxic energy dump"? Do you or your employees seem stuck in the doldrums all the time? Well then, FISH! is for you. Mallory Kasdan enthusiastically and energetically reads this tale of a manager of a department in which everyone has lost ambition, energy, and helpfulness. Through Kasdan's passionate narration, we learn how the Pike Place Fish Market--with their secrets for success and improved attitude--helps the manager encourage her staff to be involved and conscientious about what they do. FISH's philosophy will help people in any business regain their energy and passion for their lives and work. M.B.K. 2002 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Download Description
In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager is charged with the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team.

Customer Reviews

Man I never knew that fish could be so foul!
I was given this so-called motivational book by a coach at my place of employment. I work at a financial institution which is very tedious and boring everyday.I read some of the book and couldn't stop wondering about how much worse my day could be! Its is very slow witted and repetitive. I was thinking to myself about how slow this coach could be since he said that the book changed his life! It offers very little practical advice and is a waste of time and energy. I see the reality in work. You work at a job for 20 to 25 years, like it or not, so that you can retire and enjoy everyday from that point onward. Enjoying counting money, fighting with customers, and listening to everyones complaints is anything but enjoyable and fish can't change that! It is just another book to waste your money on. If you are doing your job well, are mentally stable and not depressed, then this book is not needed. So instead of buying this waste of trees, why not take a walk in the park, learn a new language, get a hobby, or just enjoy your life and do your job. You don't need a book to do that! LOL Oh and this book titled fish really stinks! DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY $$$$$$

Attitude is NOT the problem
What irritates me about this book is the idea that an employee's attitude is the problem. The premise seems to be: Hate your job? It's your attitude!

There is no allowance made for the fact that perhaps there is a REASON that people might hate their job.

Perhaps they are made to follow rules that don't make sense. Perhaps they see what they need to accomplish, but lack the training or resources to get it done. Perhaps the office environment is old, crumbling, the bathrooms don't work, and the printer keeps jamming.

In other words, if employees are unhappy, then you need to find out WHY they are unhappy and FIX it.

Don't just tell them to change their attitude. Sure that might be the case with a few hardcore cynical people. But most of us WANT to do a good job. We only get cynical when we are prevented from doing so.

So look for tangible obstacles to your employees work, and remove them.

The attitude will take care of itself.

And, for the love of god and all that's holy, don't give them this stupid book.

Motivational, but not helpful
My boss gave me this book to read and tell her what I thought. My review here will be essentially what I told her.

The FISH concept is exactly that, a concept that has been heard before from countless speakers at every business conference you have attended. Chose your attitude, have some fun at work, pay attention to people, and be focused on the present. None of these are breakthrough concepts. The book itself is a quick read; I finished it on my lunch break after she gave it to me. Large font, large margins, and lots of wasted space make and already thin book even shorter.

The biggest problem with this book is that it is written to be motivational, but not exactly helpful. Most people will read this book, and be very excited about what they have read, wanting to run right back to work and start implementing the FISH philosophy. By the end of the week this enthusiasm will be gone because, unfortunately this book does not give you the knowledge or the skills to implement their theories. The character in the book is fictional, and the results she achieved by implementing this philosophy are just as fictional. I would have been much happier to have read about a company that actually DID implement this philosophy, how they did it, and the true results they achieved. Certainly reading that a fictional person implemented it and it worked phenomenally can be motivational, but reality works differently.

The flaws in the concept can be overcome, but the book itself does not help you to achieve this. The employees have to trust their management, the management has to both trust their employees and also have employees in place that can be trusted to want to do their job to the best of their ability. Also, you have to assume that the work that the employees are doing is actually value added work. In the day and age of lawsuits over everything, trying to add "fun" to the workplace can be a terrifying thing to management who has been trained over the years that anything out of the norm can result in a lawsuit of one type or another. The suggestion of beach balls and throwing footballs around the room (from the second book "Fish Tales") is any safety manager's nightmare.

In the end, this is a weakly written book about a philosophy that is motivational, but of more use in your personal life than the business world.