Customer Reviews

When Fish Fly: Lessons for Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace from the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market

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"When Fish Fly" is a fast read with substance.

The title comes from the practice of the "fishmongers" (workers) of Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, who are 'world famous' for tossing the customer's fish purchase great distances and putting on a show to the delight of thousands of visitors.

Several years ago I read the book "Fish!" by Stephen C. Lundin, et. al., a business parable grounded in the story of lessons learned at the Pike Place Fish Market. "When Fish Fly" is written by the owner of the business and the organizational coach who has worked with the business for many years. The book provides some fascinating background on how the market became the shining example it is today. Further, the authors lay out eight key principles at the foundation of their success:

1. Creating a vision of power and possibility as a team.
2. Enrolling and formalizing individual commitment and team alignment to the vision.
3. Helping team members distinguish between the state of being and the state of doing. (A call to BE the vision in the moment, whatever it takes.)
4. Having leadership redefine themselves as effective agents of change.
5. Assisting team members in letting go of internal and external conversations that rob them of their personalpower.
6. Guiding team members to listen to make a difference instead of listening to defend or blame.
7. Helping the crew live their commitment to one another through effective coaching. (Everybody coaches everbody else and is open to receiving coaching from everybody else.)
8. Assisting crew members as they turn snags into breakthroughs.

Most of all, the book reveals the power of alignment to a vision, and provides some strategies any organization can take if it is interested in a vision that includes making money and also making a difference in the lives of its workers and customers.

The book lacks a hard edge for readers who insist 'it's a jungle out there.' As author Og Mandino put it one time, if it's a jungle out there, it's because we have made it so. "When Fish Fly" provides an alternative approach.

Persons who have read the book "FISH!" or who have seen the instructional video will still gain a great deal from this book, but it stands just fine by itself as well. Both business and non-profit organizations will benefit from its brevity, inspiration, and strategies.

Author John Yokoyama, owner of Seattle's World Famous Pike Place Fish Market, explains how he changed his attitude toward his employees, embraced a new way of treating people, led his employees in a fundamental directional shift and built a widespread reputation. This isn't a business "cookbook" that tells you step by step what to do. As Yokoyama insists, you can't just copy someone else's success. You must be an individual. However, the story of his turnaround and triumph at World Famous Pike Place Fish Market is a good read that illuminates the need for leaders to treat their employees, as he says, as people, not as human resources. Although the Market is getting to be as overexposed as a fish left out in the sun, we welcome this first person exposition from the owner. After numerous published accounts about the Market, the saga of how Yokoyama empowered employees, promoted his business and changed his style comes through best in his own words.

Customer service and employee morale are the two main messages from this interesting audio book. Yokoyama explains in his own words how he turned around a struggling Seattle fish market and developed loyalty from his employees, helping them develop vision and commitment. Having never had a full-time employee leave within the past five years, Yokoyama offers advice for encouraging passion in employees, teaching them to overcome the daily frustrations and setbacks that are part of the job. The audio describes how crowds gather daily to see the crew throwing fish and interacting with customers, and also to purchase some of the freshest fish in the country. Yokoyama's attitudes were shaped partly from his childhood experience of being impris-oned in World War II Japanese-American internment camp.

We make our profit off of the products we market...what we sell is our service. A culture of customer service first, and seperating our company from the pack needs to be driven from the top down...but it is the line managers that have to most influence on our customer facing associates. When fish fly...gives our managers a look at reality with real examples of what they can do to influence their teams.

Must read for all managers and head of household.

If you are any of above two, then Please do yourself(and more importantly your team/family) a favor and take time to read and understand John's vision, geniune love for his work place; John's dedication to create world class enviroment and Not only he gets things done in world class way but also create world class high performance team.

Simpler/tangible way to see Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing


Every Manager thinks he/she is world class, but one has to truely understand difference between "being world class" and "doing world class"

Internal/external communication can be notorious personal power grabber, this book help in identfying and moving beyond these hampers to energize your ,most important Assets, your team/your family.

Final Mantra----"Read/practise these principles, Empower yourself & Go change world"

Thanks John Yokoyama/Joseph Michelli for sharing your vision and experiences,
Great TEAM!!.

my 2 cents

-Raj Sahu

Purchased after a recent seminar showcasing the Pike Place Fish Market, I found this book an outstanding tool to take back to my co-workers. When Fish Fly focuses on the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market and how the owner, John Yokoyama, turned his once failing business into a fun, thriving one. Motivational, inspirational and easy to read. It has proven itself time and again with work and the difficult task of motivating others.

Johnny Yokoyama adds details and insights on the mind set of the fishmongers, not available in the more popular book, "FISH!"
It's about BEING world famous, not DOING things to be world famous. The subtle difference helps steer day-to-day decisions for each of the fishmongers and reminds them of their true goals.

Years ago I visited the Fish Market. I liked the idea of the show they put on by throwing the fish. As I got real closed to take a picture....I almost became part of the show. Luckily my martial arts training, http://www.kaizenmartialarts.com, paid off and I was able to avoid being tackled by a King Salmon.

The care that the owners of this business have for their employees is fantastic. What is even better is that they have found a way to give back. Who would have thought that a small fish market could have such a global impact for good!!

A fantastic book. A definitely fantastic way to run your business. The only way people should treat each other in any walk of life.

Our company has adopted the Fish policy and we love it. Although we cannot throw fish, we do throw alot of fun activities, etc. to help the attitude's of our employee's.
Wish I could move to Seattle and work at the Pike Market!
Thanks for sharing ALL your Fish products with us here in Louisville KY!