Caught Up in a Good Book

A fine layer of dust had accumulated on my book pile as it sat unmoved from it's perch on top of my armoire.  But, finally the more laid-back days of summer had come.  Summer reading is one of my favorite past-times and I've always been an avid reader.  Lately, I've been tired of the same genre that normally my heart is drawn too and have been trying to take the leap and explore other types of books.  I've never really been so inspired by a book, that I felt compelled to write about it and share it's impact on me with others until now....

I have been totally caught in the net of authors Stephen C. Lundin, Ph. D., John Christensen, and Harry Paul with Philip Strand and their FISH books!

No, the books weren't on the new release shelf, but I'd never even heard of them until a saw them a few weeks ago.  I was intrigued, so I grabbed all three of them.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about these books and the FISH philosophy!

There were SO many memorable statements and quotable lines in the books I don't even know where to start and therfore end, other than saying if you haven't read FISH - they are a must read!

Here are my favorites elements from each book...

from FISH!...
"Our Workplace - As you enter this place of work please choose to make today a great day.  Your colleagues, customers, team members, and you yourself will be thankful.  Find ways to play.  We can be seriouse about our work without being serious about ourselves.  Stay focused in order to be present when your customers and team members most need you.  And should you feel your energy lapsing, try this surefire remedy: Find someone who needs a helping hand, a word of support, or a good ear -- and make their day." (1,107)

from FISH! Tales...
The 4 basic principals:
"Choose Your Attitude - The attitude you have right now is the one you are choosing.  Is it the one you want?" (2,105)
"Play - Play is not just an activity, it's a state of mind that brings new energy and sparks creativity."  (2,9)
"Make Their Day - The world becomes a better place the moment you act on an intention to serve another." (2,41)
"Be There - You can multi-taks with "stuff," but you need to "be there" for people."  (2, 75)

from FISH! Sticks...
3 ways to keep it -
"FIND IT - The most basic ingredient of any vision is the individual IT.  IT is our personalization of the vision.  Vision-sustaining energy is released as we seek to find our IT through conversation." (3, 70)
"LIVE IT - Once we are clear about our IT, opportunities to Live IT are more obvious.  We call theses opportunities vision moments.  Vision-sustaining energy builds as we live as many vision moments as we can." (3,75)
"COACH IT - Coaching is a gift we give to each other and to our vision to keep IT strong.  Whether it's about the way we do our work or the way we work together, the feedback needs to flow in all directions.  Coaching can't be an ego trip.  We only do it for the vision.  We Coach IT." (3,80)

So, as I'm reflecting on these books of course I've developed a passion to want to live this in my own life.  I know that I need to be present, play, make their day, and choose my attitude, but more importantly be consistent in all areas of my life.  I have a lot of change ahead of me, but am looking forward to trying to incoportate this basic, yet profound philosophy into my life. 

As an educator, I also want to dare to give this a go in my classroom.  Although all of the examples and stories were about workplaces that involved adults, I felt that the philosophy is simple enough to apply with my second graders.  I still can't believe that I never had heard of these books, so as I am finishing up my thoughts here, I couldn't help but to see what else was being said online. 

Can you believe it?  There's a book titled Schools of FISH!  I guess that will have to be added to my pile of books!  Our classroom mascot is our Beta fish, Bubbles, Jr., and I often refer to my students as Beta Testers.  Well, I can't wait to try this out with them and learn from them.

Also, I will now be adding two new titles to my pile -
Catch!  A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness by The Crew of World-Famous Pike Place Fish
When Fish Fly: Lessons For Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace From the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market by Joseph Michelli

So, here's to finalizing my search for developing my IT within the grander vision, looking for ways to create vision moments for others, and encourgaging others in IT all!



Bibliography
1. Lundin, Stephen C. Ph.D, et al.  FISH!  New York:  Hyperion, 2000.  Print.
2. ---. FISH! Tales. New York:  Hyperion, 2002.  Print.
3. ---. FISH! Sticks.  New York: Hyperion, 2003.  Print.