Whale Done!: The Power of Positive Relationships

I feel extremely grateful to the authors of this book for writing this gem. I am an Elementary School Teacher, and I was handed a very difficult class to manage. The children in this class came from homes with poor parental support, and they had poor social skills causing them to constantly pick fights with each other. I tried using the disciplinarian manner of dealing with them. It just didn't work. They were already so jaded and used to being punished that to them it didn't matter one bit at all. In fact, it only served to make them even more defiant. Then, I happened to chance upon this book. When I read this book, I could instantly link the ideas of positive relationship to William Glasser's Choice Theory - where positive discipline is emphasised. They are really very complementary. When I tried using just Choice Theory alone, it didn't quite work. But when I used Whale Done together with Choice Theory, it took me just two days and the class became much more well behaved and cooperative. It was too amazing for me to believe that it was happening! But really, seeing is believing... I think for people who have given poor ratings to this book, it's probably because the book hasn't given very clear instructions with regards to how to redirect the undesirable behaviour appropriately. If you can't figure out how to redirect, it is a sure thing that the Whale Done method will fail hopelessly. If you really wish to give positive relationships a shot, try this: Read William Glasser's Choice Theory first. Then, read Whale Done. Finally, use the Whale Done method, coupled with using Choice Theory as the basis for all redirections. And very importantly...never give up! It is sincerely a very trying process in the beginning especially when you do not witness immediate changes. But be patient and push through with both the Whale Done method and Choice Theory, and you'll be able to enjoy better positive relationships around you.

For me, the most important part of Whale Done is that it reinforces and goes way beyond one of the principles in The One Minute Manager. "Catch them doing something right!" certainly reinforces positive behavior. Redirecting negative behavior is another issue that is handled extremely well in this delightful book. I loved this story, and the principles taught are memorable. Whale Done! deserves 5 stars. If you want to motivate people to do their best, I would also suggest you read Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self.

Whenever Ken Blanchard (one of my favorite authors) comesout with a new book, I usually rush to read it . . . so when Isaw that WHALE DONE! THE POWER OF POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS had just been released, I got hold ofa copy and devoured it in one sitting.You'll be able to do so, too, in that it is real short . . . butdon't be fooled into thinking that there's not a lot of "meat"contained in its 128 pages . . . Blanchard, along withcoauthors Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins and JimBallard, takes a simple tale and uses it to get you thinking about how both whales and people performbetter when you accentuate the positive . . . that informationmay sound basic, but it is far too often never used. The story revolves around a gruff manager who visitsSeaWorld and is impressed with how animal trainersof killer whales can get them to perform amazingacrobatic leaps and dives . . . he begins to see howthese same techniques could be applied to hisbusiness life, as well as his situation at home . . . inaddition, he learns the difference between "GOTcha"(catching people doing things wrong) and "WhaleDone!" (catching people doing things right).I particularly liked the many examples that were used,and the fact that these could be applied to countlesswork and home situations.There were many memorable passages; among them:"The point here is that progress--doing something better--isconstantly being noticed, acknowledged, and rewarded. We need to do the same thing with people--catch themdoing things better, if not exactly right, and praiseprogress. That way, you set them up for success andbuild from there.""Killer whales can 'take out' any other animal in the ocean. We sometimes use that information when we'reworking with dog trainers. Some of them scold and yellat their animals. They use choke chains and sometimeshit them. When they talk about that kind of treatment, Iask them, 'If your dog weighed eleven thousand poundslike Shamu, the whale, how would you treat him? Would you use a choke collar or smack him around?' I don't think so." If you don't hire people on a performance review curve,why grade them on one?My only criticism is that some of the material seemsrecycled from Blanchard's first bestseller, THEONE MINUTE MANAGER . . . but maybe that's not such a bad thing, in that I still consider this his bestwork . . . and a "must" read for anybody who has notyet had the pleasure of experiencing it.

I am always on the lookout for new tools to use not only in my family life, but in the business world as well. "Whale Done!" meets both of those requirements and was a good read for me. It is fascinating to think that the same methodology used in the training of whales is so directly applicable to managing people in our business world. I have only had this book for three days and have already begun to apply the principles that are the foundation for bringing positive behavior out of Shamu!I am purchasing a copy of this book for each of my direct reports in the business where I am a Vice President. I have also contacted the CEO of our company in a neighboring state to recommend the book to the corporate staff. Our morale and business climate is good, however, there are some gems in "Whale Done!" that are worth building a program on for our future.Many managers are into "positive re-enforcement" as a teaching tool, but this book goes way beyond that in the methods that it explores. Imagine if you could have as much success with your staff as the trainers have with Shamu!!!

I just finished Whale Done and I loved it. I've been a fan of Dr.Blanchard's books for years and feel this latest book really gets to the essence of what he's been teaching for years. One of the big take aways I had from the book was paying attention and noticing. I find myself at work and home either not noticing or keying in on the negative behavior that I don't want repeated. In talking with a member of my staff about this I learned how I need to focus much more of my attention on noticing and praising the positive. The issue was very emotional for this person and I was a much bigger deal than I ever would have imagined. Ken and his co-authors emphasize building relationships where people feel that you mean them no harm. If the majority of the feedback I'm providing my people is how they can do things differently, dare I say better, they can misinterpret my suggestions as catching them doing things wrong. I've been making a concetrated effort to catch my staff doing things right. I've been amazed at how my natural tendancy is to revert back to seeing the mistakes and not encouraging all the things being done right. The concept seems simple and yet I can't say enough about the change I've seen in the energy level in my department. I still need to redirect behavior from time to time but I'm looking for what is partially right and building off of that verus focusing valuable energy on what was wrong. This approach has been equally as impactful with my son and wife. I've been married for ten years now and admit that I've stopped noticing all the incredible qualities that caused me to fall in love with my wife to begin with. The qualities are still there I just stopped pointing them out like I did when I was courting her. I've gone on far longer than I should but I must end with the change I've seen in my relationship with my 4 year old son. His behavior and more importantly our relationship seems to be headed in the right direction after just 5 days of coming home and noticing all the things that he is doing right or partially right. He runs to the door to greet me now and seems to get in much less trouble. The suttle or not so suttle difference has been the attention he has recieved from me. I was a little skeptical applying the concept with him because he is testing us all the time trying to find out what he can and can't get away with. Its only been 5 days but he seems much more interested in getting the positive attention from me than he does finding out what he can't get away with. Its sad that the we had to learn the importance of developing trusting relationships in this manner because killer whales won't tolerate anything else from trainers that would otherwise be little more than a lite snack. A huge thank you to Shamu for forcing his trainers to treat him in a manner that we all deserve but rarely get.