There's some good suggestions in this book but it could have been written in about 10 pages without all the dramatisation. No reason it had to be so long other than the desire to sell books instead of pamphlets. Not sure how this would be received now after the controversy caused by Blackfish and the death of a trainer leading to a ban on swimming with orcas. ( )

Positive relationship is the key to open and turn all of the difficult situations. Why? In a nutshell, it is human being and only human being to build and develop or destroy this world. This short book inspires and reminds this through the experience with how to train a whale, the "monster" of the sea. The principle is exactly the same to build positive relationship with all people around you, including your co-workers, your friends, your parents, your kids, your relatives. Once you can do that it'll definitely advance your life to the next level. ( )

A compendium of straightforward techniques on how to accentuate the positive and redirect the negative, increasing productivity at work and at home.

If you liked The One Minute Manager, you'll like Whale Done! This time around, Ken Blanchard teams with trainers from Sea World to write a parable about how the principles for training killer whales can apply to management and family life. This book is even more centered around focusing on the positive, praising progress rather than waiting for perfection, and redirecting unwanted behaviors to get people refocused on your shared goals.

I'm currently reading Ed Catmull's Creativity, Inc. about the management lessons he's learned while running Pixar, and he's reached many of the same conclusions. He uses the analogy of learning to ride a bike. (I can't even remember now if he gives it in reference to managing his team, or to himself learning to become a manager, but it works both ways.) You wouldn't berate someone for falling down, you'd encourage them to get back on and keep trying and applaud their progress. Blanchard uses a similar example about a toddler learning to walk. This is exactly how you should treat other people in general, whether it's your kids in any other aspect of life, or anyone else in your family, or your employees, or yourself. Basically, it means having a growth mindset in everything you do, and applied to everyone with whom you interact. (Check out Mindset by Carol Dweck.)

Those who've left negative reviews need to read the book again. If they could just get past the slightly cheesy title and the price seeming high for such a small book, they could extract a lot of value from it. That's the whole point about focusing on the positive, which they've clearly missed. (Notice how almost all of them acknowledge that the actual advice in the book is good, and then completely fail to apply it!)

If you liked that this book applied the same principles Ken Blanchard uses for management to family life as well and want something more in-depth specifically on parenting, you might be interested in some other books that fall roughly into the same camp (which might be termed positive discipline). Check out Between Parent and Child by Haim Ginott, How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk (whose authors were influenced by Ginott) or the Parenting with Love & Logic books. Even if you disagree with some of it, as long as you're on the premise of focusing on the positive you will find a lot of value that you can use.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2CHVFBKPAHT11 ( )