FISH! Tales

FISH! Tales

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt8bQ8QeyhE]

I would recommend FISH! Tales as it’s a fun and interesting book. At first, I thought it was about people going on a fishing trip. To my surprise, it consists of the FISH principle which is about creating a better fun workplace and actually based on Pike Place Fish market in Seattle. The FISH! Principle includes four themes: Play, Make Their Day, Be Present, and Choose Your Attitude.

Along the Play theme, the first story introduces how to implement fun into a call centre in one of the largest telecom companies – Sprint. The center transformed from a low energy group providing poor customer service into a place where employees were willingly to work overtime. It was all due to a high level manager who initiated fun in the office with games, music and t.v. Soon everyone started to lighten up at work. The result was great success as customers heard the joy in representatives’ voices and also felt their concern.

One example of the second theme Make their Day occurred in a car dealership. Once the owners paid the commission based on the number of units sold rather than price the employee’s sales increased and they began to offer customers better deals. Employees began to make their customer’s day because they were more honest and offering better prices. As a result employees became highly energized and eager to make their customers happy.

In Be Present, the third theme, one nurse was able to set an example for others by noticing the details of each of her patients., Soon all the nurses started paying attention to their patients and also began to have fun with them. For instance, nurses would reward “fish points” to patients for taking their medicine in the form of plastic and stuffed animal fish. These simple fish helped engage the patients and turn their moods around. In the end, these nurses were with their patients until they passed and the nurses’ service was recognized as one of the best nationally.

Choose Your Attitude, the final theme, was highlighted in a roofing company. Since there was little interaction between the employees and customers, employers started to question the attitude employees had towards their customers. What made the company stand out was that not only did the employers set an example by engaging customers but they also made community work one of their priorities. For instance, they would connect with their customers by teaching them how to build the roofs and contribute to the community by fixing an elderly ladies’ rotten roof. Their success was evident as they transformed a small roofing company to one of the industry leaders.

FISH! Tales is a great book for any manager or leader looking to bring more fun, enthusiasm or energy into their team or organization. The value of the book lies in the many real life applications of FISH! and their success.

As a manager and leader, FISH! Tales is an essential part of your work library.