Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh by Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul

From the Publisher

"It doesn't matter if you are an individual contributor who wants to hang on to a better work life or a CEO who wants to maintain a new high level of productivity: Sustaining change is the true test of leadership. Holding on to a culture of innovation, maintaining a higher quality of work life, constantly renewing an important customer service program, or retaining a more participative management style require the use of an unique set of principles that are different than those used simply to initiate a change . . . External energy is often what it takes to catch our attention in a busy world. But external energy cannot sustain a change. That takes a different source of energy: natural energy." --from the Introduction to FISH! Sticks

With more than two million copies in print worldwide, FISH! and FISH! Tales have been fixtures on the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, New York Times Business, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. The FISH! philosophy has been featured widely in People, Fast Company, and on CBS Television's Sunday Morning, and CNN's Business Unusual. Thousands of organizations are using the FISH! philosophy to bring more energy and passion to their work, including Abbott Labs, Arrow Electronics UK Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, Harley-Davidson, the Mayo Clinic, Nabisco, the National Weather Service, Nordstrom, P&G, Prudential, Sprint, the U.S. Army, and Wells Fargo.

There are many ways to make good changes. This brilliant new parable will show you how to help make those changes stick -- for good.

Effecting change in an organization is a piece of cake -– compared to the real challenge of getting change to stick.  Now, the authors of FISH!, the million-plus copy international bestselling book and video phenomenon, have returned with an all-new, stand-alone business parable that shows how anyone can do exactly that. Here is a remarkable way to keep your work vital, alive, and fresh as you navigate staff turnover, tough times, and general run-of-the-mill cynicism and burnout.

When Rhonda, a new manager, takes over from a popular and now promoted boss, she is faced with the problem of how to keep spirits and performance up in a newly-energized unit that has, frankly, started to get bored and cranky and return to its old ways.  But then she visits the amazing Tsunami Too, a fictional sushi restaurant that always has a huge line of customers cheerfully waiting for hours to get in.  Soon, she realizes that the way to keep her staff and herself motivated and at the top of their game can be learned from a brilliant sushi chef and a bunch of waiters who continually teach one another everything they need to know about giving great customer service, integrating new employees, and maintaining an atmosphere of  constant innovation and overall excellence.

FISH! Sticks employs the same kind of easy-to-use story that was used in Fish! to illustrate its three main commitments for continued success: Find IT, Live IT, Coach IT, where the "IT" is each employee's own personal vision, found withing the overall vision for the business. Chock full of easy-to-grasp examples, this book provides advice that is concrete and can produce immediate improvements in employee morale, customer satisfaction, and productivity -- both for the short and long-term.

If you have ever made a change or innovation only to feel soon after that you were backsliding -– or if you want to identify what's working in your workplace and make sure that it keeps working -– then FISH! Sticks is a book that will help you achieve your goals.

Stephen C. Lundin, the Big Tuna Ph.D., is a writer, filmmaker, and public speaker. He serves as head counselor of the popular Fish! Camps.

John Christensen is a filmmaker and CEO of ChartHouse Learning, the leading producer of corporate learning programs, including FISH!, the video.

Harry Paul, a professional speaker, is a consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies and the director of speaker services at Nelson Motivation.

Publishers Weekly

This audio version of the third book in the Fish series uses as its example the work at one ward of a large suburban hospital. Rhonda, the supervisor, had been promoted, and her mentor, whom she succeeded, had been an ardent follower of the Fish program. Rhonda believed her staff was paying attention to the patients and were providing a level of service far beyond that at other facilities. However, after some time, she began to notice staffers were sloughing off and seemed not to be providing the absolute best care to the patients. The problem? Keeping the Fish principles fresh and new was difficult. After a visit to a successful sushi restaurant, Rhonda regained her enthusiasm for the program and, with the help of the sushi chef, was able to inspire her staff. In fact, her work was so effective, her staff was able to take over for Rhonda after she suffered a family tragedy. There's something charming about the Fish program, which counsels, "Find it, live it and coach it" ("it" is each employee's vision). The notion that individual workers can have a vision for their workplace and their place within a large organization is indeed empowering. And Rhonda's story offers insights into both personal and professional worlds. However, the simple message is rendered even more unsophisticated by the artificial voices on this audio. There's a kind of squeaky, schoolmarm voice for the older nurse who comes onto the ward, and the intonations used for the various nurses are similar and somewhat grating. Still, in spite of these flaws, the story and the business lessons within it are worth hearing. Simultaneous release with the Hyperion hardcover. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

A Short Parable with Big Applications
In Fish! Sticks, the authors who originated the original FISH! philosophy to help people add energy and passion to their work have produced another short business parable to help leaders sustain a change effort after the original momentum has subsided. In a tale about a health-care leader who is working to keep a successful change initiative alive in her hospital, the authors deliver poignant advice about holding on to a culture of innovation before efforts backslide. As other characters add depth and color to the points Fish! Sticks delivers, a set of principles emerges about the next steps that must be taken after an initial change.

'Find IT, Live IT and Coach IT'
Fish! Sticks packs much wisdom about sustaining vision, finding personal passion, and facing challenges into a short book. Its clarity and timeless lessons are put into the contexts of a busy hospital, as well as a successful sushi restaurant, as the main character strives to make change stick. Characters who cross her path help her find the passion and vision to perpetuate the good work of the powerful leader who came before her. She also learns to understand the importance of finding a personal piece of the vision, called "IT." The lessons she learns are defined and shared through simple, useful features in the book, such as a list of vision principles that demonstrate how leaders can "Find IT, Live IT and Coach IT."

Why Soundview Likes This Book
This book is a valuable source of motivation for those committed to success and looking for the inspiration to take them to the next level of leadership. It stands out as a wonderful example of how a short fictional tale can teach the lessons of life in a simple, to-the-point story. Fish! Sticks updates the parable genre with a modern setting and some very complex scenarios. Copyright (c) 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Details from Seller

• ISBN: 0786868163
• Publisher: Hyperion
• Pub. Date: January 2003
• Condition:

Comments from the Seller: Very good Hard cover book. Dust jacket has shelf and edge wear. Book is in great shape. Pages are clean.

• Forewords & Introductions

Forewords & Introductions

Some say change is difficult.  I say change is a piece of cake (or perhaps cheese).  If you want a real challenge, try to sustain a change - especially a change that requires commitment from all who do the work.

It doesn't matter if you are an individual contributor who wants to hang on to a better work life or a CEO who wants to maintain a new high level of productivity: Sustaining change is the true test of leadership.  Holding on to a culture of innovation, maintaining a higher quality of work life, constantly renewing an important customer service program, or retaining a more participative management style requires the use of a unique set of principles that are different from those used simply to initiate a change.

A large-scale change usually comes with a lot of fanfare, so in the beginning there is considerable energy.  It's a typical to have meetings, training programs, off-sites, balloons, buttons, contests, pocket cards, newsletter articles, posters, and videos.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these.  External energy is often what it takes to catch our attention in a busy world.  But external energy cannot sustain a change.  That takes a different source of energy: natural energy.

When the balloons have deflated, the contests have ended, the training is complete, and the natural human tendency to look for the next new thing has started to exert itself, that is when the inevitable gravity pull of old ways sets in.  When you are part of such an effort it feels like someone just took her foot off of the accelerator.

This gravity pull takes many forms, including distraction, busyiness, resistance, boredom, forgetfulness, cynicism, and sabotage, to name a few.  It doesn't really matter what is at stake - a new diet or a new way to be at work - all worthwhile changes are susceptible to the forces of gravity.  Successful efforts to counteract these forces in order to sustain change is what separates the great workplaces and great people from the pack.

After teaching change management to MBA and corporate seminar students for twenty years and operating my own business in an environment where change was a constant, I coauthored the book FISH! And worked on a film of the same name.  Ever since, I have had the privilege of observing organizations using the ideas in FISH! (as well as principles from other management books ) to address a variety of important issues and to create positive change.  The most pressing workplace needs addressed by those who turn to the FISH! Philosophy include improving the quality of work life, customer service, employee retention, the facility for innovation, productivity, and recruitment.  Another reason people turn to it is simply to learn how to have more fun at work.
Over the last three years I have traveled almost a million miles speaking to and visiting with those who, in one way or another, are working to implement important organizational changes.  I have been especially inspired by change efforts that were sustained after the excitement of the initial rollout had waned.  There is a bounty of energy present when something is new - but a year later it takes a deeper source of energy to keep it going.  I have seen many successful organizations that have found that source.  Any wisdom demonstrated by the characters in this book has been extracted from real people sustaining change in real organizations.  The World Famous Pike Place Fish market, the inspiration for FISH!, is of course one of the many ongoing success stories from which we have learned valuable lessons.

This book is the work of my imagination, but it is based on many experiences the three of us have had over the last few years.  John Christensen continues to make FISH! The main focus of his company, CharHouse International, a place where stories are routinely collected in the course of business and where the language of possibilities rule.  Harry Paul has found a life on the road speaking and consulting about FISH!  It is a rare day that Harry doesn't have something to share.

Yes, we now stand on the shoulders of thousands who have brought new possibilities into their workplaces and their lives.  Some have failed, some have succeeded, and for many it is too early to tell.  But we have learned from them all.  FISH! STICKS is designed to highlight the special set of commitments involved in keeping any worthwhile change alive.  It is truly your story: I just happened to write it.