Stephen C. Lundin - Fish

Professional Endorsements for FISH!:

Not only is Fish! a great story in its own righttold in an engaging and thought-provoking waybut the business lessons it teaches are sure to improve any organization that takes the time to apply them. Catch the wave!

PETER ISLER and PETER ECONOMY, authors of At the Helm: Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters

Fish! is not just a book about business or boosting morale and motivating employees. Its a book about Life. Its a book about how we should live our daily life and how we interact with family members, friends, and people we meet on the street. By using what youll learn in the book, you will not only become a better manager, youll become a better person, and thats far more important. RICHARD SULPIZIO, president and chief operating officer of Qualcomm

Lundin, Paul, and Christensen know the right formula for teaching principles that improve conditions in the workplace: Tell a good story! Fish! is perfectly suited for teaching four powerful principles that form the bedrock of a successful company. I recommend their book to anyone, on any level, who wants to make a difference at work. HYRUM SMITH, co-chairman of Franklin Covey Company

I find myself energized by the message and clearly see the potential of applying the concepts throughout our 15,000-person organization. The authors catch the energy and release the potential truly captures the essence of this fine book and its message. DONALD D. SNYDER, president of Boyd Gaming Corporation

This book points out in a very clever and compelling manner that being a good manager of people is not much more than using common sense and the Golden Ruletreat others the way you would like to be treated. ROBERT J. NUGENT, president and CEO of FOODMAKER, Inc. (Jack in the Box)

This book is for the millions of workers who relish the thought of having a more playfully productive atmosphere at work and for the billions of fish who would rather not find themselves flying through the air at the world famous Pike Place Fish market.

Enclosed are the keys to creating an innovative and accountable work environment where a playful, attentive, and engaging attitude leads to more energy, enthusiasm, productivity, and creativity.

by

Ken Blanchard, Ph.D.

co-author of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans, and Gung Ho!

Fish! is an incredible story that John Christensen first caught on film. He and his company, ChartHouse, produced an amazing video on the world famous Pike Place Fish market in Seattle. I have been showing this video at every one of my seminars to illustrate what happens when you create Gung Ho! employeesyou ignite your workforce and create Raving Fans.

Now Stephen Lundin, and long-term colleague of mine Harry Paul, have teamed up with John to bring the Fish! story to print. In whatever media it appears, its a fabulous love story. As the book suggests, When we choose to love the work we do, we can catch our limit of happiness, meaning, and fulfillment every day.

How important is that? Incredibly important, especially when you consider that people spend about 75 percent of their adult wake time doing work-related activitiesgetting ready for work, traveling to work, working, contemplating work, and decompressing after work. If we spend that much time in that part of our lives, we ought to enjoy it and be energized by it. And yet, too many people are trading time on the job to satisfy needs elsewhere; Thank God Its Friday is still a way of life for many people.

Those days can stop nowif you read Fish!, share it with everyone with whom you work, and implement the four secrets and suggested strategies that Lundin, Paul, and Christensen give you. I guarantee that every manager will benefit from Fish!, because it will not only increase employee retention, it will motivate people to take pride in what they do. People like to work in an environment that is fun, energizing, and where they can make a difference. The Fish! philosophy will also benefit every employee, because it prevents burnout and will keep you excited about what you do.

As you can tell, Im excited about Fish! I think this is a marvelous book. The story of the world famous Pike Place Fish market is fantastic. But this book is not just about selling fish; its a love story that can happen in your organization, too.

It is fashionable today to believe that we should not settle for anything less than doing what we love. Write poetry, travel the world on a sailboat, paintdo whatever you love, and the money will follow. We tell ourselves that life is too short to spend our working hours doing anything less than the ideal, and we continue our search for the perfect workplace. The danger is that if our quest for ideal work focuses us on the future, we will miss the amazingly wonderful life that is available today, in this moment.

The fact is that in the real world there are conditions which prevent us from chasing the perfect, ideal job. Many of us have significant responsibilities to family members or to a way of life. For others, a true calling hasnt made itself visible yet. Some of us are under so much stress in our personal lives there is literally no time or energy to seek a new line of work.