Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh

by Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul

The 'o-FISH!-al' follow-up to the phenomenal bestselling Fish! and Fish! Tales, Fish! Sticks is a stand-alone business parable that shows you how to come up with a vision for your business and how to keep it alive, vital, and renewed through tough times, such as turnover in management and staff or a troubled economy. Using the example of a hugely successful, fictional sushi restaurant as a model for a vision of continual renewal, Fish! Sticks employs the same kind of easy-to-read story that was used in Fish! to illustrate its three major principals of continued success: Commit, Be It, and Coach It. When Stephanie, a new manager, takes over from a wildly popular and now promoted boss, she is faced with the problem of how to keep spirits up in a corporate unit that has, frankly, started to get bored and cranky and revert to its old ways. But then she visits the amazing Taka Sushi (formerly Taka Teriyaki), with its lines of customers cheerfully waiting for hours to get in. Soon, she realizes that the way to keep her employees motivated and her customers delighted can be learned from a bunch of waiters who teach one another everything they need to know. And when she finds out just how the owner of Taka knew to switch her main bill of fare from teriyaki to sushi long before anyone else, what she really discovers is the secret of keeping your work fresh.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Professional Development, Reference

142 pages, Hardcover

First published January 2, 2003

About the author

Stephen Lundin is a writer, entrepreneur and filmmaker with a rich history as a graduate level business school professor and dean. Steve has written a number of books including the multimillion copy best selling FISH! and the simply bestselling FISH! Tales, FISH! Sticks and FISH! for Life.

Reviews

[Neda Sharif Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned from it

[Kylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concepts in the book were relatively helpful, but the format was awful. It was written in a childish way that I found cringe-inducing. The "story" was so fundamentally lacking in anything of interest that I felt my time was being wasted, despite the potentially useful concepts.

Lundin seemed to take his cues from the success of books like Who Moved My Cheese and the like, but his execution was dreadful. While Who Moved My Cheese used simplistic, nonthreatening language for a purpose, it seemed to me that Lundin used it only to annoy the heck out of the reader. At least, that is the effect it had on me.

As a side note, I think that using the death of his daughter to move more product was tacky at best.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never imagined a book would make me feel so emotional. I enjoyed this book. It's a good story and really enhances your train of thought pertaining to your career.

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro. Te hace replantear un montón de aspectos de la vida y de las obligaciones, sobre todo la forma de tomarse las cosas. Se lee muy rápido y deja mucho para reflexionar, uno de los mejores de esta editorial junto a Quién se ha llevado mi queso?

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The continuing story. Introduces a few new concepts, however, the narrative and premise of the narrative is a little tough at times. I felt that it was a little condescending and spoke to me as if I was a third grader (nothing against third graders!)

The plus that I saw was the implementation of the concepts into the healthcare setting. Sometimes that can be tough, especially in back office operations.

[Lídia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Convertir un vertedero de energía tóxica en el idílico lugar de
trabajo es posible con los secretos del famosísimo Pike Place Fish
Market de Seattle,CA.

Mary Jane, una ejecutiva con ganas de cambiar la imagen de su departamento, tachada de poco eficiente, aburrida e incluso deprimente, la cual es burla del resto de trabajadores, llega por casualidad al famoso mercado de pescado. Lonnie un pescadero del mercado enseña a Mary Jane el sitio, donde el pescado vuela, los clientes se divierten y se monta un tremendo espectáculo minuto a minuto. Con la ayuda de Lonnie, empieza a analizar las claves del éxito de la pescadería y prueba de incorporarlas en su departamento para solucionar su problema.
Los Secretos de Pike Place Fish Market:

“1. ESCOGE TU ACTITUD
Los pescaderos tienen muy claro que eligen su actitud cada día. Uno de ellos dijo ‘Cuando haces una cosa, ¿Cómo te
sientes? ¿Estás impaciente o aburrido, o te sientes famoso en el mundo? Actuarás de manera diferente si eres famoso en el mundo’. ¿Cómo queremos sentirnos mientras trabajamos?

2. JUGAR
Los pescaderos se divierten en su trabajo, y pasarlo bien aumenta la energía. ¿Cómo podemos pasarlo bien y crear más energía?

3. ALEGRALES EL DÍA
Los pescaderos pasan un buen rato e incluyen en él a los clientes.
Estimulan a los clientes en maneras que fomentan la energía y la buena voluntad. ¿Quiénes son nuestros clientes y de qué manera podemos estimularlos para arreglarles el día? ¿Cómo podemos hacer lo mismo entre nosotros?

4. ESTAR PRESENTE
Los pescaderos están totalmente presentes en el trabajo. ¿Qué nos pueden enseñar sobre cómo estar presentes con los compañeros y con los clientes?”

Después de que Mary Jane presentara las claves del éxito de la pescadería a su equipo, estos se involucraron en el proceso de cambio y se ingresaron por ayudar e investigar más, tanto visitando el mercado en varias ocasiones como observando a su alrededor para poder mejorar su manera de ver la vida.

Los compañeros de Mary Jane no solo estuvieron agradecidos con ella por haber sido capaz de encontrar una solución al “vertedero de energía tóxica” sino que también los había ayudado a darse cuenta de que muchas veces les pasaba lo mismo en su vida personal. Gracias a los cambios realizados, Mary Jane recibió un premio otorgado por la presidenta de la empresa, y los demás compañeros empezaron a querer trabajar más con ellos e incluso algunos pidieron el traslado al departamento.

[Jay Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a very short, quick read. Most of the information is wrapped in lengthy scenarios of a hospital setting where the employees are working through the principles of Fish, which are Find IT, Live IT, and Coach IT. While I liked some of the concepts introduced, I struggled to apply any of them to my own life or situations I might find myself in. I haven't read the previous Fish books, which I might recommend doing if you are interested , but for me this book didn't have the punch I would have liked to get from it.

[Robert Gistvik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first Fish-book, but I still have issues with the story being totally made up. Even if it is a mixture of multiple examples it would have felt more credible if the story was real. That said - the book gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas on how to work with these kind of questions.

[Gwenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read it because it is in the 100 book challenge and I thought it would be an easy read
same kind of stuff you have read before and expect about how t make work life better
everyone should read this type of thing every couple of years because you need to rejuvenate

[Abhay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book allows you to refocus on the important aspects of your job. Gives a good insight into the way one needs to make your vision stick.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. Highly recommend

[Kurt Menapace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not as interesting as Fish! but a good continuation that was an easy read.

[Joshua Shepard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the biggest fan of this book, but it had great lessons that every employee should take to heart when trying to create a positive work environment.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little cheezy, and I felt like it could have been even shorter, like 10 pages.

[awesome.nerd.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good workplace story and feedback for all in the business and education world!

[Ella87 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toll. Sogar mit Übungen am Ende.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sure. I liked this one just as much as the original.

[Cathy Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pun, get it? FISH! Sticks... like the breaded things we find in the freezer case. Except in this case "stick" means "to last." As in change that sustains itself. Almost always a good thing.

A year after FISH! Tales the authors were back with another fable. Gone are the financial executives who learn about quality of work life from fishmongers in Seattle (though their method survives.) Here we have the burned-out staff of a hospital who learn about how to keep the FISH! Principles alive from a Manhattan sushi chef and her employees. This restaurant has embedded the FISH! way of life in their culture. They know how it is done.

The bad news is that there is no program, no checklist, to be distributed to the team. Positivity cannot be enforced through external means, with rah-rah posters, in-service workshops, or any kind of one-size-fits all program. In order to stick, the change has to come from within each individual (or at least from a critical mass of them.)

The good news is there are ways to help people along in their journey. When IT is the vision, the big picture idea of the kind of place or organization we wish to be, then each person must discover IT for himself or herself. Change leaders must live IT - walk their talk and use the organization's system of rewards according to the behavior they seek. And perhaps most importantly - each person must be willing to give and accept coaching, friendly reminders when we slip into old habits. If people can't or won't nudge each other for minor infractions of the principles, then over time the gains will be reversed.

I think this is the only business fable I have ever read that includes a tragic blow to a main character, but it turns out that one of the authors lost a child to drunk driving during the writing of the book. They embed the simple idea that sometimes our co-workers can be our greatest sources of personal support - if that is the kind of workplace we have built.

Glad for a simple book on sustaining a change effort. Definitely worth reading.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read, but with pithy moments. Applicable in all kinds of organizations. It's tempting in a parable like this to say, "Oh yeah, I get it," then put it down and forget. Slow down and take notes ocassionally.

A key word is "IT". IT = Your piece of your organization's mission.

FIND IT
LIVE IT
COACH IT - Carve time for conversations. Strange as it may seem amidst the clamour of professional development programs begging for your money - the most powerful organizational development method is sustained conversations about the mission and your part in it.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second FISH! book in a little over a week. I think I liked Fish for Life a little better. Things I took away from this book in particular were the importance of having a vision, and having conversations about work. Early in the book, I enjoyed the way the book presented the principles in story (i.e. parable) form, but by the end of the book I wished I could've learned about real life examples of FISH! being incorporated into the workplace.

[Akash]

Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work FreshStephen C. Lundin

[Amcam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A required reading for my school job. I would have liked it better had I read the first book in the series. There were references throughout the book to the one that came out previously that I did not necessarily "get." A good motivational book, but would have been better with a prior knowledge from which to pull......

[Captain Curmudgeon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame self-help book for organizations. Little weird, too. Strong fictive element. You can feel the real problems being ducked (e.g. What if you boss is *really* an -------, not just pretending to be one?).

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with change programs is that they usually have short lives before we go back to old habits. This short book tells us to involve the group into their own change program they can live and teach so it is an internal change.

[Jill Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. I like that the information was written in a story, and I was really connected to the characters. They felt very real-clearly parts of them were. The ideas of making change stick was thoughtful. Now I really need to go back and read Fish and Fish Tales.

[Debbie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Fish book. It was an easy read with instructions on how to sustain success in business.

FIND IT
LIVE IT
COACH IT

Learn to talk to others and actually have conversations. If we all know our part in the big picture, we are more likely to be motivated to succeed.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the 3 books by this group, but still a great read. My take-away is that once I've understood the basic principles of whatever I'm researching, I need to stop looking for that step by step path and figure out how to implement the principles into my unique vision.

[Mitchelle]

something that is worth reading... lot of helpful tips on how to survive on the world of work : )

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent; story of how to make change "stick" in the FISH philosophy

[Kriszti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was utter rubbish and poorly written drivel.