Fish! Sticks

As a manager in a government agency, I utilized the first Fish! book with our team as a part of our Manager's meeting last year this time. It was widely regarded as the best meeting we've ever had. Everyone loved it. Everything that the first book indicated would happen did. It was really pretty awesome. We are now widely regarded as the the best shops in the state, largely because of the practices we put in place with the first book. We are in the planning stages of this year's manager meeting, and I was looking for a topic for the meeting. Fish! Sticks fits the bill perfectly. Ironically, we were at a point where we were just going to cob some boring presentation together because we had reached exactely the point that this book talks about where we have sorta gotten back to our own ways, prior to the change. This one evening read was just what the Dr. ordered! I strongly recommend the entire set for folks in managerial positions.

The well known FISH! philosophy can be applied to the health care setting. In this series, the 6th floor of a local hospital is transformed by the FISH! philosophy started by a nurse manager. After she leaves, the health care administrators are concerned that the FISH! philosophy was just a gimick. They plan to ensure a lasting change. This is achieved by helping employees make an internal change of heart rather than only an external or pep rally type of change. The application to health care is very timely and may be very helpful to nurse managers and nursing staff, especially those who work on units with low morale.

How do you get a group of people to adopt new strategies of coping with change? This story provides food for thought. I recommend you read it along with Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self. When we use Optimal Thinking, we take the most constructive actions and achieve what is supremely important.

Change starts with the infusion of external energy and a promise of better things. But soon the gravity of the old ways pulls it back. This book is about sustaining the change process by using our internal energy. Fish! was a good parable with lots of excitement at the Pike place fish market. This is a forward integration, moving up the value chain. We are in Takara Too, a sushi restaurant, where customers don't mind waiting in long queues for the wonderful experience once inside and to be received by a loud cheer from the staff. If you have forgotten your reading glasses and have difficulty in reading the menu card, the waiter will be pleased to offer you half a dozen variations of reading glasses that can help. If your favorite beverage is not on the menu, it is sourced from a nearby store before you realize. The good news is that the principles behind such a marvelous atmosphere to work in apply to workplaces in any industry. It is important to Find IT, Be IT and Coach IT. At the end, I realized that the personal tragedy Steve Ludin (author) suffered has had its impact on the story. The loss of Beth, his thirty-one year old daughter in a car accident to whom this book is dedicated. Beth lived a full life true to the spirit of Fish!. In her memory, I rededicate my commitment to Fish!

When I come across the negative reviews like the one below, I want to scream "Get a clue!" Employees who are given business books, as most are these days, are simply not going to read the ones that are 300 pages and full of business jargon and hard-to-follow management philosophies. As someone who formerly ran the world's largest business book club (and who, frankly, used to have a problem with these kinds of books), I soon realized that my members were clamoring for the easy-to-read, back-to-basics approach that books like "Fish!" and "Beans" espoused. There probably hasn't been anything totally new in the world of business since the Industrial Revolution, and these books, while overly simplistic for some people, speak to the masses like none other. If you have a staff that needs to be reminded about dealing with change, staying motivated, and honoring the customer, take the bait and serve up the books in the "Fish!" series. They'll thank you and you'll find your business climate improves in a matter of weeks, if not days. And "Beans" makes a very nice companion book, too.