Fish! Tales
Book

Fish! Tales

Real-Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Work Place and Your Life: Bite-Sized Stories. Unlimited Possibilities

Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul and Philip Strand
Hyperion, 2002
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7

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Recommendation

Things are going swimmingly in Fish! land. In the latest volume, Fish! Tales, authors Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul and Philip Strand build on the successful training program that evolved from their first Fish book. Tales shows how four companies - a long-distance call center; a hospital neural-renal unit, a car dealership and a roofing company - have applied Fish! theories effectively. They also provide short examples from other companies to show how well the Fish! function. The four main principles are familiar by now - keep the work fun, seek to serve others, stay focused on your customers and have an enthusiastic attitude - but the examples in the book bring them alive. Along the way, the authors heavily sell their Fish! courses and merchandise - that’s just good salesmanship - but the real catch of the day is the final how-to section, showing ways to apply these principles in any organization. The lively writing style helps keep you hooked. getAbstract.com suggests that if you haven’t yet caught any Fish!, start with this one. Its cheery, accessible methods should lure you in, hook, line and sinker.

Summary

The Power of the Fish!

The Fish! story started when John Christensen and Steve Lundin went to Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market in 1997. They were immediately impressed by the market fishmongers’ vitality and their customers’ enthusiasm. Christensen and Lundin extrapolated four key principles that expressed the fishmongers’ relationship with their customers. That became the "Fish Philosophy," and the basis for a documentary-style video called Fish! The story spread via workshops, seminars, articles and training programs. The four Fish! Principles - which are actually fairly familiar - are:

  • Play - Make work fun. Keep it light and spontaneous so people will really want to do it and will bring more energy and creativity to each task.
  • Make their day - Or even make their moment. Provide your customer with a "small kindness" or memorable experience, so even if the transaction is very routine, it will become memorable.
  • Be there - This means be fully present when you are with someone. Offering a focused presence engages you also, and is far less tiring than performing a series of tasks half-heartedly. If you try to juggle too many balls, some will fall, ...

About the Authors

Stephen C. Lundin, also referred to as the "Big Tuna Ph.D.," is a writer, filmmaker, public speaker and head counselor of the FISH! Camps. John Christensen is a filmmaker and CEO of ChartHouse Learning, producer of corporate learning programs, including FISH!, the video. Harry Paul is a speaker, a consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies and director of speaker services at Nelson Motivation. Philip Strand is a senior writer of books and curricula at ChartHouse Learning.

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