I picked this book up at the ITIL seminar in Orlando in January 2003. Ken was one of the speakers and as usual, I got enthused by the speaker and ran out to the lobby to buy everything he had on the table. I think I came away with 5 of his books. I read this book in about an hour, maybe less. I was on a plane at the time, so looking at my watch was not a priority.

As per Blanchard's usual parable style, he tells the story of a man trying to figure out how to motivate and manage people. He runs into a friend who puts him in touch with a trainer of the killer whales at SeaWorld. He asks the trainer how they get the whales to perform without getting killed. The typical management techniques of today's business world would most certainly turn a whale into the natural killer it is. The trainer then goes into how whales are trained and how managers should use the same techniques to get good results. The man does and has astounding results, not only at work, but at home.

If I have a complaint about Ken Blanchard's books, such as One Minute Manager, it is the style of the story telling. It turns me off. The stories are too trite and contrived for me. There isn't anything wrong with the style, it just doesn't float my boat. The information is good, but I thought it overwhelmed by the story. ( )

Whale Done!
Discover the difference between Whale Done! (catching people doing things right)
and
GOTcha! (catching people doing things wrong)
Whales -- and people! -- perform better when you accentuate the positive and redirect the negative.
See how the trainer's techniques at SeaWorld, Orlando, can have amazing real-life results!
Instead of focusing your energy, as most of us do, on what goes wrong -- redirect that energy towards a positive outcome in both work and family relationships.