The Fish Philosophy

The FISH! philosophy is a workplace management system created by John Christensen. It all started on Pike Place Fish Market when Christensen visited the place at Seattle. He saw and realized how employees interact well with each other and how they interact with the people enthusiastically. Employees would fill the order of customers by flinging fish to each other, laughing and enjoying their work and they would even invite people to join them!

FISH! is a skill that provides the process, tools and language to generate the skills essential to design a workplace full of inspiration, creativity and innovation. FISH! creates a language that will help develop your culture by using four simple practices. It is an invitation that enables people to care about each other and their commitments. FISH! is an continuing journey. It is a practice and a skill that evolves over time creating a positive workplace and a vibrant culture each time it is embraced. (http://www.charthouse.com/content.aspx?nodeid=1066)

Christensen realized that not only were the workers making a routine errand fun for themselves and their customers, they also were selling tons of fish. He then constructed the FISH! Philosophy from his observations of Pike Place employees, and he arrived at four key concepts:

* Play
* Make Their Day
* Be There [for Coworkers]
* Choose Your Attitude

Be There

:Is being emotionally present for people. It’s a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships. How you show up in your daily life has an immeasurable impact on those around you. What does it look like when you sincerely are there for others?

Play

:It taps into your natural way of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do.

Make Their Day

:Is finding simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life, not because you want something out of it, but because that’s the person you want to be.

Choose Your Attitude

:Means taking responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Once you are aware that your choice impacts everyone around you, you can ask yourself, “Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?”

The Fish! Philosophy can be very beneficial in a organization because: It reduces turnover and improve morale; build relationships, encourage team commitment, accountability, creativity, trust, respect, and action; and it creates a culture that fosters success.

The FISH! philosophy reminds us how important it is to take control of our day to day attitudes and use that power to create a workplace that we like even when the work is hard. By applying the simple lessons learned from the employees of the fish market, the workplace is transformed. Employees are happy and they serve their customers well.

According to their Web site, "FISH! has created a new vocabulary of what our jobs could be about. It's so simple that it's profound. It won't just change how you view work; it may change how you view life."