Sample Book Review On Whale Done Book Review

The book Whale down which is also known for its whale philosophy is written by Dr. Ken Blanchard. He tells a story of a poor man who has difficulties in managing his complex relationships with humans. After watching a whale show and afterwards applying the whale trainer’s training skills to his family and work, he greatly improves the relationships in his family and performs a more productive work.
The book introduces the power of the positive relationships which is of high importance for creating high performance in any type of relationships. The author indicates that the positive behavior should always be encouraged. In addition, other important steps include clear goals, sincerity and honesty, and that people are doing the right things spontaneously. These four elements form the basic premise to reach the positive relationships.
According to Dr. Blanchard, constant recognition and reward should be applied to make things better. When communicating with people, we always need to do the same thing even if the work was not done completely correctly. Sometimes Chinese parents are too concerned about the result of their children’s work, for example, how much was scored at the last exam, how much homework was done during the week. They only give praise for big progress, but seldom give recognition for little progress or good performance during the process. It is very difficult for kids to be commended.
In his book Blanchard compares attention with the sunlight: some things will grow better if we show concern about them, others would wither if we ignore them. So, when people are doing the right things and we continue giving the positive feedback, they will continue to show better performance. However, if we take their work for granted and think that everything is normal, then the power of making a good performance will be weakened. This is the reason why in my high school few students got high marks even when they did not do well previously.
Ken Blanchard also mentions that good performance starts with clear goals. This point is very useful in managing a company. When the company decides to start a project after doing all the preparation, it is necessary to agree on the goal consensus among the employees. This step can create a more efficient and effective way to reach the goal. Clear goals promote everyone in the company to pursue the aims without distraction. Clear goals also contribute to creating the right post in the company and assign the right person to it, thus improving the company’s performance.
Setting clear goals is also necessary for an individual. In my high school, there are two different type of classes. This is a traditional Chinese education system and is almost the same in every high school. One class is called a normal class, the other one is called a rocked class meaning that the best teachers in the high school teach this class. When I just entered the high school, I was a normal class student. My father asked me to write a plan with short-term and long-term goals, and he would check the feasibility of my goals since he knows my capabilities and abilities. The most important thing in my high school was not to improve my marks. But surprisingly when I reached the goal which was set for that term, my marks improved. Hence, finally I became one of the rocket class students. This is the power of setting a clear goal.
Honesty is one of the best human characteristics. Dr. Blanchard emphasizes that people should be honest and sincere when talking to someone else. Changing the way we manage interpersonal relationship is a tough job. When a manager chooses to use the whale philosophy in management just by saying, “Oh guys, you did a great job”, “wow, I think you are the best in your field, the work is done amazing”, it is not enough. If a manager is saying those words with a stiff face, how could the employee believe they are really thinking that way. So, be honest to ensure the whale philosophy will work.
Another important element and the most beautiful thing in the world is the trust. When people talk with someone sincerely, this relationship will finally get well. Trust can make the family tighter. Similarly, being honest at the working place contributes to the communication which helps the manager understand the problems of the company and create a plan to solve them.
All the highlighted ideas of the whale philosophy are useful to make sure people are willing to do their work. Hence, the most effective way is not to reward your employees or punish them when they do something wrong. If people have their own motivation, they really want to do their jobs. Self-motivation is the most powerful incentive. People feel satisfied when they reach the goal. People can feel happy when they help others. That is why, as Dr. Blanchard mentions in the book, the children can feel they are helpful when they help to clean the kitchen. People think it is worth to seek their true love.
Whale philosophy is very useful for the workplace communication. Last part of the book convinces us that if people can communicate with others sincerely, then this can improve employee’s productivity and create a better relationship between colleagues. I think it is true. If employees can feel their manager treats them sincerely, they would be more positive to finish the assigned tasks. The idea of the whale philosophy communication is not ranking the performance, it is focusing on how to treat communication as the tool to solve the problem and build a good relationship with others. So during the staff meeting everyone could tell how they are doing and what problems they are facing. No one feels any pressure when talking about negative things. People are more willing to work in teams rather than competing with each other, it is a neoteric way to manage a company. For these reasons, managers should learn and practice the whale philosophy.