Fish Stephen Lundin Pdf Download Free
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Because of our company book club, I am now in the look out for an appropriate books to read: one fiction and one non-fiction. I do not have any problem with the fiction because there are just too many available. The non-fiction is a different matter because most booklovers, at least most of my friends here in Goodreads, are not really into this. So, when I saw this hardbound book - pristine, clean and crispy - being sold for only P75, I bought it right away.
The fictional story revolves around Mary Jane, a mother whose husband just died so she has to support all by herself her two small children. She works as a manager in a fictional company called First Guarantee Financial. Because she works hard (as she is now the sole provider for her kids), her efforts are noticed and the company president assigns her to fix the operation on the third floor of the building. That operation is functioning so badly that it has earned the name: The Toxic Energy Dump.
One day, Mary Jane is walking and she heard a happy commotion - noise and laughters - from the direction of the market called Pike Place Fish where the fishmongers (salesclerks) are throwing the fishes, whole or parts, in the air. The buyers are enjoying the spectacle not only the throwing but also the full attention and friendly conversations they get from the salesclerks. That was how the idea of Fish! philosophy was born.
I remember my boss sent me a copy of the video before and I just brushed it aside thinking that we do not have anything to throw inside the office. The book explained other ways to have fun at work. It is only now that I understand exactly how can this work to boost morale, improve results and minimize resignations. Those decorating activities, the employees dancing inside the pantry, the ladies dressed up like Reina Elena walking in procession along the hallway, etc. are not to deviate their attention from work or to aim for a higher pay in the next annual salary increase. Those are, even how ironic they seem, to encourage them to be more productive. This book aims to tell the reader how this can be possible and I am stopping here so as not to spoil your fun.
My only comment is that the frame story is the suckiest story that I've ever read. It is mind-bugging (not mind-boggling). Having read so many fiction works, this one is like a bug, say a cockroach, that you want to step on until its intestines are spread on the floor. You have to step on it because the said cockroach can fly and it can go inside your ears and creep into your brain. That's how you'd feel reading that story. It is badly written that I felt insulted and afraid reading it. It seemed like the author thought that only stupid office people (or those who after reading the fairy tales while they were very young were not required by their schools to read another book) would have the interest to read his book.
Check the name and profiles of the 3 authors: Stephen C. Ludin, Ph.D. (a filmmaker, professor, speaker), Harry Paul (senior vice president), John Christensen (filmmaker, CEO, film producer). Not anyone of them had written a book prior to this yet!
Last night, I started reading the second book (yeah, this book is so successful it has a sequel!!!) and now there is the fourth author and he is -- a writer!
Yay, good thinking!
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A coworker cleaning out his desk handed me this slim hardback volume along with "Leadership and the One Minute Manager," both of which he received at some sort of managerial seminar. I'm usually up to give read just about anything, and neither volume extended much beyond 100 pages. When I asked him about fish, he casually explained that it was a book on how to brainwash your employees.
Not sure he read
I don't know if I've ever heard so much negative feedback on a book that no one's actually read.A coworker cleaning out his desk handed me this slim hardback volume along with "Leadership and the One Minute Manager," both of which he received at some sort of managerial seminar. I'm usually up to give read just about anything, and neither volume extended much beyond 100 pages. When I asked him about fish, he casually explained that it was a book on how to brainwash your employees.
Not sure he read it honestly, but then again I'm not even sure the people who hand out these books actually believe its message.
I guess what I'm getting at is the corporate world is full of misanthropes.
While the notion of using a story as a framework for a message of corporate betterment probably didn't start with this book, it seems like it definitely gave it a bit more ground in popularity. It's a sugar pill meant to push about a page-worth of data down the throat of lower level management.
The issue I have with all these books is the same reason I couldn't stomach Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." A fictional story is a great way to teach a lesson, or extol virtues and beliefs. It's rotten for proving that you're right. When you create the scenario you guarantee success for the avatars of your chosen methods. Everyone who disagrees becomes a straw man you can set ablaze. It's like CS Lewis saying there's a magic world through the wardrobe. It's FICTION! It doesn't prove a damn thing in and of itself.
Here's a spoiler for the book straight out of Wikipedia:
Play
Make Their Day
Be There [for Coworkers] (Often referred to as "Be Present" This is more to do with giving your full attention to a task or individual.)
Choose Your Attitude
What's funny is that most of the advice I've read in these sort of books just tell you to act like a civil, respectful human being. Being positive and trying to make your environment as good as it can be for your employees isn't really a feat of neurology. So what stops it from happening?
Well, it's easier not to. The well of positive energy is poisoned from above, not below. The example is set from a much higher point than the middle management this is aimed at. In a way it's sort of abrasive to have them throwing this book at underlings and saying, "Here, get a good attitude!" They themselves feel they don't need this attitude, the book is a pill for someone else's problem. The people with the power seem to feel they don't need to study anything at all, since their power is proof that they already know all they need to as is.
As proof of this, a friend of mine who saw the book mentioned that he got this book along with a write-up as his last job with ticketmaster. He of course did not read it, as being punished with a book on positive morale didn't sit well with him. The unwritten messsage of the book as its used in practice is, "Have a good attitude or else!"
It goes unread not because of its intended message, but because of the implied one.
Wikipedia has a counter-argument that sums it up far better than I could, so I'll end with it:
"In his book Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective, anarchist Kevin Carson calls FISH! "vile" and a "lesson from the powerful to the powerless",adding:
To grasp just how presumptuous Fish! really is, just try a thought experiment: imagine management's reaction if the circumstances were reversed. Imagine the bosses' reaction if you and your coworkers matter-of-factly announced that, henceforth, you would be working at a slower pace for the same amount of money, or that you would be receiving a higher hourly wage. Imagine telling the boss "you can't do anything about these changes, but you can choose to have a good attitude about them!" My guess is your boss would demonstrate in short order that he does have control over events, and that it's not his attitude that has to be adjusted. That's because, while you may be powerless, your bosses most certainly are not.
This asymmetrical power relationship is implicit in Fish! Philosophy. And you'd better believe that the people who push it are fully aware of their agenda. [...] They are the ones who do things. We are the ones that things are done to. Learn to enjoy it, or else. That's the message of Fish! Philosophy."
EDIT: The more I thought about it, the more my score dropped. I kept having "wait a damn minute" moments. It started out as a 3 and just slid downward. As one negative review pointed out, the book gives absolutely no consideration to dissent as a valuable part of office discourse.
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The Fish philosophy is modelled on the work culture of a fishmonger's at Seattle's Pike Place Markets.
Summarised
1. Choose your attitude
2. Play/Have fun (They threw fish around at the markets)
3. Be present (for customers and others generally)
4. Make their day
3 stars
Read this for work. Easy and quick to read.The Fish philosophy is modelled on the work culture of a fishmonger's at Seattle's Pike Place Markets.
Summarised
1. Choose your attitude
2. Play/Have fun (They threw fish around at the markets)
3. Be present (for customers and others generally)
4. Make their day
3 stars
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1. Abysmal writing. Fish was apparently written in a land where contractions seldom happen, and the dialogue reads like a 1950s industrial about the perils of poor hygiene.
2. The "story." Lundin et. al. felt the need to tack a "plot" onto their corporate philosophy book: a plot that was thin, forced, and, with the implausible love story stuck i
I gave this book one star only because Good Reads won't let me give it half a star. It was a work assignment. How do I loathe it, let me count the ways:1. Abysmal writing. Fish was apparently written in a land where contractions seldom happen, and the dialogue reads like a 1950s industrial about the perils of poor hygiene.
2. The "story." Lundin et. al. felt the need to tack a "plot" onto their corporate philosophy book: a plot that was thin, forced, and, with the implausible love story stuck in for us working gals reading it, insulting.
3. The vilification of dissent. The Fish Philosophy is presented as being so flawless and so delightful that no one could possibly object to it. And, indeed, the "protagonist" encounters no objections from her employees. What then can happen (it happened to my boss) is that managers who read the book and make their employees read it are unprepared for dissent. Legitimate concerns about the fundamental soundness and applicability of the philosophy are swept aside without acknowledgement. Dissent is seen not as vital to growth (which I believe it to be) but as trouble-making and "not being a team player." The only appropriate response to the Fish Philosophy, in the Fish world, is complete acquiescence.
4. The co-option of message. The message I took from the Fish video is the importance of authenticity and individuality. The Pike's Place Fish Market is fun because each employee is encouraged to be their authentic selves, to contribute to the sense of fun in their own unique way. The fact that this inspiring message has been co-opted, in the book, into a worldwide message of corporate conformity and enforced "fun" imposed by the student-councilesque few on the unconsulted many sickens me.
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The FISH concept is exactly that, a concept that has been heard before from countless speakers at every business conference you have attended. Chose your attitude, have some fun at work, pay attention to people, and be focused on the present. None of these are breakthrough concepts. The book itself is a quick read; I finished it on my lunch break after she gave it to me. Large font,
My boss gave me this book to read and tell her what I thought. My review here will be essentially what I told her.The FISH concept is exactly that, a concept that has been heard before from countless speakers at every business conference you have attended. Chose your attitude, have some fun at work, pay attention to people, and be focused on the present. None of these are breakthrough concepts. The book itself is a quick read; I finished it on my lunch break after she gave it to me. Large font, large margins, and lots of wasted space make and already thin book even shorter.
The biggest problem with this book is that it is written to be motivational, but not exactly helpful. Most people will read this book, and be very excited about what they have read, wanting to run right back to work and start implementing the FISH philosophy. By the end of the week this enthusiasm will be gone because, unfortunately this book does not give you the knowledge or the skills to implement their theories. The character in the book is fictional, and the results she achieved by implementing this philosophy are just as fictional. I would have been much happier to have read about a company that actually DID implement this philosophy, how they did it, and the true results they achieved. Certainly reading that a fictional person implemented it and it worked phenomenally can be motivational, but reality works differently.
The flaws in the concept can be overcome, but the book itself does not help you to achieve this. The employees have to trust their management, the management has to both trust their employees and also have employees in place that can be trusted to want to do their job to the best of their ability. Also, you have to assume that the work that the employees are doing is actually value added work. In the day and age of lawsuits over everything, trying to add "fun" to the workplace can be a terrifying thing to management who has been trained over the years that anything out of the norm can result in a lawsuit of one type or another. The suggestion of beach balls and throwing footballs around the room (from the second book "Fish Tales") is any safety manager's nightmare.
In the end, this is a weakly written book about a philosophy that is motivational, but of more use in your personal life than the business world.
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I was given one of these books at the retreat and told to read it. I skimmed it and immediately put it up for sale on Amazon--in much the same way I immediately threw into my office trash each Christmas the Russell Stover sampler box given to me as a gift in lieu of an actual raise or bonus.
In other words, take this fish and shove it!
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1) Choose the attitude you b
I know it is a matter of perspective certainly, but I think a one star rating is missing the point of this book... It is absolutely not going to be winning any writing awards, but it contains lessons that I think we all need to be reminded of periodically. I always feel better when I read it and I always take something away from it. Quick read... an hour tops! Buy it for yourself, buy it for friends, buy it for coworkers... We can all benefit from the Fish philosophy!1) Choose the attitude you bring to work.
2) Play. (Every job may not be fun, but we can choose to have fun doing it.)
3) Make their day (Engage customers - including them creates goodwill)
4) Be Present (Be aware of those around you and be fully available)
In order for employees to be more productive, they need not experience work as a hum-drum experience. After all, who gives their all when they are bored and disengaged? Cliche as this may sound, Fish claims that passion in wha
Fish is a business book written as a parable. Its purpose is coach its readers into a new way of carrying out their business environment in order to make employees more productive. It does so by enlightening us with less conventional methods of expressing ourselves at work.In order for employees to be more productive, they need not experience work as a hum-drum experience. After all, who gives their all when they are bored and disengaged? Cliche as this may sound, Fish claims that passion in what we do for a living is of ultimate importance. The significance of feeling alive and purposeful is necessary. The Fish philosophy considers it imperative employees get to know each other, that they be exposed to events and celebrations in which they can share with one another, and that some fun be brought into their work life. Some of the methods discussed are interest clubs such as book clubs, holiday celebrations, festivals, contests, birthday hurrah's, trips, winning a dinner with the boss, etc. These methods and others, are used as motivators for higher achievement at work.
Although I have never personally worked for a company that avails itself to the Fish philosophy, I do know of companies that have implemented Fish techniques with great success. I have also spoken to people who claim the Fish philosophy has made a difference as to how they personally approach their jobs.
For my part, I can only imagine (and this is simply a personal opinion), that employees who have a sense of belonging, who are encouraged to share with co-workers, feel they are a part of something bigger, and propelled to participate and voice their opinions, will experience a greater sense satisfaction in their work place. Thus making them more motivated. Which could serve to raise employee self-esteem and moral. I can see how this school of thought, if implemented properly, could provide employees with a more effective work environment.
Before closing off, I would like to clear something up about Fish. There have been some negative reviews. Many of them state what a horrible "story" Fish is. Fish is NOT a story. It is a parable used to coach it's readers as to the concept of running a business with greater impact by using unconventional methods. It is not a fictional read for entertainment purposes.
I gave Fish 3 stars.
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Tell someone flashing back from PTSD that they're not being "present enough." Tell someone with depression caused by seasonal affective disorder that they're not being energetic or "choosing a positive attitude." Tell someone with a chronic illness that they're not doing the work with "enough energy."
Yes, this book is primarily about choosing your attitude, and one can choose one's attitude up to a point. A person with a chronic illness may not be able to be as energetic as their coworker, but they can give what they're able to give. I'm on board for giving what energy you're capable of giving, being as positive as you're capable of being, and being as present-minded as your brain will allow.
But that was not the message of this book. This book promotes the message, "choose your attitude." Full stop. It utterly failed to acknowledge that disabled folks exist, and that disability and neruodiversity have serious impacts on just how feasible it is to "choose" your mental state.
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The first step, Choose Your Attitude, presumes that just deciding to have a change in attitude is an option for everyone. It's simply not true. Personally, I cannot control my mood and although I can try to not let it affect my work, it isn't always possible.
The second step, Play, was full of ridiculous suggestions. I.E. 'Post signs saying, THIS IS A PLAYGROUND. WATCH OUT FOR ADULT CHILDREN.' 'Small lights to turn on when it is time to lighten up a bit or when you have a good idea.' Really? Really.
The third step, Make Their Day, was my favorite, but it isn't without its own faults. As someone who works directly with the clients, I always try to make their day. Many of my clients only get out of the house when I come to pick them up, I want them to be happy about being out and about. I avoid highways, I try to take a scenic route. I spend time talking to them and asking questions. It's important to me to make sure they are happy. The downside to this is that I often feel like the bad guy if I have to save no to them, I feel guilty anytime things don't run smoothly because I'm trying to do so much for others that someone else falls by the way side. Yes, I want my clients to be happy and I want them to be satisfied with my service, but at what cost? If I were to dedicate myself to the level to which this book seems to think is necessary, my personal life and my mental health would deteriorate.
The last step, Be Present, once again I feel if that this level of presence isn't good for the employees (but it's great for the company). If you need a break, TAKE A BREAK. You need to take care of yourself first.
TL;DR This book is about increasing productivity and making money for your boss. Don't sacrifice your personal life and mental health by going above and beyond the job you were hired to do. Yes, it's great if you enjoy your work and do it well, but remember to take care of yourself first.
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T
I really liked this book when I first bought it, in 2001. Back then, I was a young and idealistic 23-year-old, so I pretty much assumed that a corporate culture could be changed by smiling and being nice to the customers. Of course, I've since learned that it's not nearly that easy. The book's message is simple enough; it's a cross between the Serenity Prayer (don't dwell on what you can't change) and the Franklin or Eleanor Roosevelt quote to "do what you can with what you have where you are."The book's parable is simple enough to not alienate the reader, but there are many times when it clearly takes place in an ideal world; the only people who don't appreciate and embrace the Fish Philosophy are those who haven't heard it yet. Once the main character introduces the Philosophy to her department, everything gets better automatically.
One place where this book is sorely lacking is in suggesting how to implement the Fish Philosophy in one's workplace. Basically, they just say that employees have to choose to be happy and productive, and they will be. The book doesn't provide any advice to managers for improving the environment, or leading the way by accentuating the positive, or rethinking business processes so employees don't waste time on pointless tasks; just Choose Your Attitude(tm) and it'll all take care of itself.
Basically, this book is best suited to optimists, people who already come to work in a good mood no matter what. Those who feel justified in their disgruntlement will just see this as another attempt by management to avoid addressing their own problems. This book could be used in a bigger program, however, wherein managers are taught how to demonstrate, encourage, and reward positive attitudes and exceptional customer service.
...more 1. Choose a positive attitude at workplace
2. Have fun in work. Play a little.
3. Engage with your customers. Have fun with them as well
4. Stay focused. Always be "present" while listening to problems of customers, friends or family members.
That's acceptable. However, Mary Jane and all the other employees in the book treated the fishmongers as omniscient. The ending was even more extreme. Mary got so inspired by one of the fishmongers that she decided to marry him. This forced romance made the ending hideous.
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But the way it was told, with Mary Jane's story just sucks. I mean, I would have rather have a more theoretical book, than having a shitty st My company works with the Fish principles, and so I believe they will start rolling the book out to employees soon. I can see how the four principles would help to have better energy at work. But you do need all the company to know them, and all of them on board. The principles are fine, a bit obvious if you will, but there's a good explanation behind them.
But the way it was told, with Mary Jane's story just sucks. I mean, I would have rather have a more theoretical book, than having a shitty story, badly told, and with very fake dialogues. It felt patronising, like I was some dull office worker that knew nothing better than sulk. It annoyed me. ...more
The author achieved describing his topic very well. She set up many ideas and lots of different ways to approach boosting morale. This book was very informative, by trying to make us try the ways to boost morale. Powerful, is one word I would use to describe this book. One strength of this book is that she formatted most of the chapters by putting many different ways of how to do just one thing. A weakness was that the hook of this book was very dull and boring. It did not grab my attention. Stephen the author is very qualified to write this book because she researched and studied this topic of morale. I agree with every idea in this book.
This book left me with the impression that I can use these ideas in my life. I hope to apply it to my work and teams. I recommend this book to Sophie Bell. I know she wants to start a business and this might be good for her.
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Mary Jane is a widow with two young children. She recently got promoted to manage a department in the company she works for which is known as a toxic energy dump. She can't afford to quit her job and her manager threatens to fire her and the team if they don't turn
I've read this book a couple times over the years ... the last time was in 2006. Gord and I were talking about Pike Place Fish Market a couple days ago for some reason (he hadn't heard of it) and it inspired me to read the book again.Mary Jane is a widow with two young children. She recently got promoted to manage a department in the company she works for which is known as a toxic energy dump. She can't afford to quit her job and her manager threatens to fire her and the team if they don't turn things around.
One day she wanders into the Pike Fish Market and sees how much fun the workers are having. She is approached by Lonnie, one of the workers, who shares the principles, which are:
* Choose your attitude
* Play
* Be present
* Make their day
Though Mary Jane and Lonnie's story is a parable, they are good principles to live by. Reading this book again reminded me of them.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2018/11...
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- it was brief
- fictional story was engaging
- decent testimonials
- it had a message I believed in: we are in control of how we face reality (truth is, agreeing with a book often influences my opinion of the book)
Things the book could have benefitted from:
- showing how the team in question arrived at such a poor state at the beginning of the book. No one is outright bad from the get-go. If so, then your company s
Here is a self-help book that I can get behind. Let me give you a couple reasons why:- it was brief
- fictional story was engaging
- decent testimonials
- it had a message I believed in: we are in control of how we face reality (truth is, agreeing with a book often influences my opinion of the book)
Things the book could have benefitted from:
- showing how the team in question arrived at such a poor state at the beginning of the book. No one is outright bad from the get-go. If so, then your company should invest in training programs
- providing empirical evidence and not just testimonials (though too much coverage of the data creates it's own issues. There's a balance)
- addressing additional counterpoints/ arguments to the contrary
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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206309.Fish_