Rating: 
Summary: It is the simple things in life...
Review: Since we spend more than one-third of our lives at work, thinking about work, preparing for work, we might as well make work a fun thing to do. Besides, we will get the same paycheck regardless of whether we are enjoying it or not :) Some of us are not fortunate enough to have the option of leaving our job or changing our physical surroundings, however we could still learn to enjoy our current job and surroundings by changing our perceptions. It is as simple as that! The keyword here is "learn". I think it is definitely a learning process to see and cherish what we already have, enjoy the most out of it instead of longing or regretting for things that we don't have and complaining about the pithole that we are in. Don't worry, there is nothing scientific about how to improve your quality of life by changing your perception, this very inspiring little book Fish! will guide you to better enjoy your work. This book is narrating a story about how fish sellers are thoroughly enjoying their job selling fishes in the fish market and how their enthusiasm inspire those who are around them. Very entertaining!
Rating: 
Summary: Would rather go fishing
Review: This book reminded me of a story about cheese, I didn't care for that one either. The ideas make sense, but the story is out of grade school. I recommend reading Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life instead.
Rating: 
Summary: An easy way to absorb change
Review: Fish is a parable based on sound principles. I enjoyed this book because it is an easy read and it reinforces the basics. I recommend this book if you are not habitually doing the right thing. If you are serious about being your best and bringing out the best in others, I unequivocally recommend you also read Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self and The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.
Rating:
Summary: Straighten out your attitude, have fun and be here now.
Review: Straighten out your attitude, have fun and be here now -- this is the message delivered in this cute story. If you implement this advice, Fish is worth reading. I also strongly recommend Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self, a revolutionary book which provides the simple "mental software" to OPTIMIZE morale and results. I also recommend The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Rating:
Summary: Similar to "Who Moved My Cheese?"
Review: "Fish" is a parable that deals with Mary Jane who was assigned to the third floor of her company who had the reputation of being ineffective, unfriendly and labelled a "toxic energy dump." Mary Jane had to find ways to improve morale and basically changed the attitudes of some thirty employees under her supervision. She employed the tactics of fishmongers at Pike Place Fish, a world famous market in Seattle in order to learn from them how to make the workspace more fun and effective. The four principles that Mary Jane learned from the fishmongers are "choose your attitude," "play," "make their day," and "be present." The book basically explains how these principles would improve morale in the workplace, making it fun to work even if the work itself is boring and at the same time, valuing both their internal and external customers. "Fish" is quite encouraging and it reminds me a lot of "Who Moved My Cheese?" as both books are short, concise and easy to understand.
Rating:
Summary: All in the Head...
Review: A wonderful book that simplifies the steps to have the right atmosphere in any environment. Mary Jane has been given the difficult task of turning around the 3rd floor inefficiency to be a productive and pleasant place to work. In helping her in the task she meets Lonnie, who works in the fish market, and who makes her see how he managed to bring the best out of his employees even though they work in a stinky place. The four lessons learned to achieve such results are: Attitude, Play, Make their day, and Be present. Those simple words and how to carry them between the employees and be able to transmit them to the customers should be enough to turn the life around. A great book, that also helps with our daily lives and how to approach life on daily basis, make the best of things, give it your best shot and the rest is history.
Rating: 
Summary: it stinks from the head
Review: In an era of 'right sizing', where the connection between performance and reward has been totally obliterated, and employees are run ragged and exploited through the use of fear of displacement, this book offers a collection of empty catch phrases for the quick fix, short attention span of corporate 'leaders'.
'Choose your attitude' really means choose THEIR attitude. It's a cop-out to whitewash any real attempt to confront the reasons why employees might feel that way. If the employee is cynical, bitter, or disgruntled, then why did management hire them in the first place? This has to come from the employees' experience.
If management would 'be present', and listen to their employees, they would find that what would 'make their day'
would be a meaningful job, where the employees were treeated fairly, listened to, and had the possibility of a career, and long term advancement, rather than being mired in a dead end McJob. Another fable, to be sure.
Any doubts about the sympathies of the authors' of this opus should be removed by a visit to the 'Fish Philosophy' web site. Other than an excuse to bilk more money out of gullible corporate suits on ancillary [stuff], it offers only more snake oil in new bottles.
Empty catch phrases and window dressing will never get to the root of the problem of low employee morale, and management's failure to grasp this just shows how out of touch and clueless they really are.
Rating:
Summary: Better than "Who Moved My Cheese?"
Review: Although it is written in a fable-like style, it is a more grown-up text than "Who Moved My Cheese." Fish! gives tangible examples for it's lessons; while they may be in a different environment than our own, they are moments we can understand and translate into our own work environment.
Rating:
Summary: Part Who Moved My Cheese, Part The Little Guide To Happiness
Review: This book has the best of both worlds. It is part parable in that like, "WHO MOVED MY CHEESE" you have a simple story that, if you read between the lines, is a great guide to success in business. And, it's part "THE LITTLE GUIDE TO HAPPINESS" in that it also touches on personal success and Joy. I loved both books and so too do I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Stupid Book--Good Points
Review: When my supervisor handed me this book and asked me to read it I rolled my eyes. When I started to read it--oh boy, they rolled even more. But you have to take these parable books with a grain of salt. Is there anything so bad about asking people to "Choose Their Attitude" or "Be Present" for the customers? No, of course not. And what's wrong with trying to keep the mood a little light at work--nothing bad there. We've used some of the ideas in this book, and tossed the few back in (no one is going to be asked to bake cookies and I'd probably get thrown a few cans of tuna if I set up a "sandbox" area). Perhaps the most helpful concept has been the idea of treating your co-workers as "customers", it certainly makes you think twice about what you say and helps you to treat each other with the same respect you would an actual customer or client.
Overall I'd say taking what I'd consider useful out of this book has worked to change the attitude and performance of my staff.
|
