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 FISH!
The Book and the Video: A Review
FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and
Improve Results
by Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John
Christensen
Hyperion, 2002
ISBN: 0786866020
Hardcover, 112 pages.
Price: $19.95
In the front of this book, there is an endorsement
from Richard Sulpizio, president and chief operating
officer of Qualcomm, who says “Fish! is not
just a book about boosting morale and motivating
employees. It’s a book about life…about
how we should live our daily life and how we interact
with family members, friends, and people we meet on
the street….”
This is a great assessment of the book and its
message. The book is easy to read, especially if
you’re someone like me who enjoys a good story
but has been known to doze off during lectures or
when trying to plod through a lot of text. Here the
message is conveyed through a parable, similar to
(although I dislike making comparisons) Who Moved
My Cheese? and Gung Ho!
The story follows a fictional manager in a Seattle
office as she looks for ideas to help improve the
morale and the reputation of the work team for which
she just has taken responsibility. She finds
hope—and great ideas—at the world famous
Pike Place Fish Market, where she meets some of the
team members and observes them putting their
philosophy into action. There are four key elements,
they tell her, to their becoming world famous and to
their continued success, and these elements are not
only good for the business but also for the people
working there.
The elements are:
- Choose your attitude.
- Play.
- Make their day.
- Be present.
What sticks with me most after reading the book is
that, although we may not currently be working in our
dream job, we all can choose our attitudes. We can
choose how we approach our work (and our co-workers,
customers, family members, etc.). When we choose to
make the most of each day, whether at work or in our
personal relationships, we can have a big impact on
how we view (and do) things, and we can enjoy each
day to the fullest. There may be no way to avoid some
of the stresses of work and life in general, but we
all have the power to choose how we react in any
given situation.
FISH! is a story about unleashing energy
and creativity and using it to improve your workplace
and relationships. Any business or individual can
apply the ideas from this book, and it really does
not require much in terms of additional resources or
training to put the principles into action.
FISH! Catch the Energy, Release the
Potential
Charthouse Learning Corporation, 1998.
Running time: 17 minutes
VHS rental price: $250 (for seven days)
VHS purchase price: $690
The “FISH!” video transports you to
the world famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle,
WA, and shows the FISH! philosophy in action. You get
to watch the fish guys play with customers and with
fish. John, the owner, shares that this is not
necessarily about throwing fish—it does not
have to be about fish at all. This short video covers
the four elements also included in the FISH!
book.
If you love your job, it will show. And when that
shows, it will likely affect others around you as
well. When you are having fun at work, time goes by
more quickly.
As one of the fish guys says in the video, from
the moment you get out of bed each day, you have to
start making choices. If you choose to go to work,
you can choose to try to have a positive
day.
A person embraces the FISH! philosophy when he or
she finds ways to have energy, commitment, and fun at
work.
Of the two FISH! sources, my favorite was the
book. As I mentioned earlier, I like stories, and the
book provides a story to read and contemplate. For
me, the video was too short; however, I could see
using the video at a staff meeting or training
session, mainly because it is so brief. One could
show the video and then build on the FISH! philosophy
through large- or small-group exercises and/or
discussion of the four elements.
As a side note, I had an opportunity to experience
the “fish guys” in person at the national
AQP Spring Conference in Las Vegas in March 2002. You
definitely had to have a sense of “play,”
and you also had to “be present” as they
involved the audience in a competitive fish-passing
(yes, with a real fish) activity. It was a great
demonstration of how they have learned to make their
workplace and their work more enjoyable.
JOKAY HABERSTOK is a senior operations specialist
with Fluor Hanford Company in Richland, WA. In her
current role, she researches and prepares technical
and administrative procedures. Her articles on
communications, recognition, and the use of
evaluations/feedback to improve training and other
processes have been published in The Journal for
Quality and Participation and AQP Report.
A charter member, past secretary, and current
publicity chair of the AQP “Quest for
Quality” chapter, she was the recipient of the
Judy Gibson Volunteer Award for outstanding
contributions to AQP in 1996.
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