MANAGERIAL/LEADERSHIP BOOK

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results is a managerial/leadership book written in the form of a parable and inspired by Seattle's famous Pike Place Fish Market. The authors, Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen, suggest that an organization that learns to have fun can be more productive, have less turnover, and be more customer focused.

1). Which principles of business management are illustrated in Fish! Please identify as many as you can, and provide a brief description of each.

The story is centered around a woman by the name of Mary Jane Ramirez who finds herself in a supervisory position at a financial organization in Seattle. She is promoted to manager of operations on the dreaded third floor of her company. The third floor department is infamous within the organization for being a “toxic energy dump” (Lundin, Paul and Christensen 2000, 24). Although the employees on the third floor are basically good people, everyone in the department seems to hate their jobs and it is reflected in their bad attitudes and poor performance, both internally and with the company's customers. Mary Jane is given the task of changing the mind-set of the operations department but has no idea how she will accomplish her mission. The Pike Place Market influences the story when Mary Jane notices how their employees behave while doing their jobs. Pike Place is famous for the way its employees have fun while working and for the way they interact with their customers. While experiencing the amazing energy of the fish market, Mary Jane is befriended by an employee named Lonnie who begins to teach her how she can transform her department. The authors wish to convey this philosophy to the reader as a guide for transforming a hum-drum organization into a workplace that is fun. The following are the main points of the Pike Place philosophy and what they mean:

1. Choose your attitude - “there is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself” (Lundin et al. 2000, 37). Even if you are bored with your work, you can still choose to go about it with a positive approach.

2. Play - this is exactly as the word denotes. The authors suggest that even the most mundane jobs can be made more fun and energetic by learning to play while you get the job done! The authors suggest that you involve your customers in this fun as well.

3. Make their day - memorable moments are achieved as a result of going out of your way to do something special for your employees and customers each day.

4. Be present - in the midst of all the energy and fun, it is critical that you focus on your customers (both internally and externally) during the time you are dealing with ...