We have talked about a “FISH!” philosophy without really defining what we mean. There are four main concepts highlighted in “FISH!” These are the ingredients that make the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market an engaging environment for workers and customers.

Play
It is about having fun, enjoying yourself, and being spontaneous and creative. Life is too short to spend it frowning, and “FISH!” brings a smile to your face.

Make Their Day
It is about doing something special for your customers and co-workers.

Be There
It is being totally focused on the moment and the person or task in which you are engaged.  When we are fully present with our customers and with one another, we listen deeply and important opportunities do not escape us.

Choose Your Attitude
It is accepting full responsibility for all our choices, even our attitude at work.  A positive attitude is a decision we make, moment to moment. 

Not a fish tale
The film, “FISH!” is a fish market where the energy is so infectious, business people spend their lunch hour just watching the action and absorbing the energy. The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market has not always been such a place. Years ago, the dreariness of long hours, smelly fish, and cold lockers was reflected in the workers' attitudes. Yet by changing the attitude they bring to their work, the Pike Place fishmongers have created a totally different environment and a new work philosophy. We call this the “FISH!” philosophy.

The purpose of this film is to help you inspire those with whom you work to see that they have the power to create a more interesting, playful, profitable, and energetic workplace for themselves. The type of place you feel positive and fulfilled by the way you do your work and it is good for business!  As the fishmonger says in the film, “People are having fun, and they are also, by the way, buying our fish.”

You can make a difference! You can help others bring the ““FISH!” philosophy into their own environment.

Understand the importance and potential benefits of FISH!

“FISH!” is a playful film, which can be used as part of a process to realize rather significant and quite serious benefits. Before exploring the many possible uses of “FISH!”, ask yourself two basic questions, which quickly bring into focus the potential “FISH!” benefits.  Number one, if you are searching for a new employee and have narrowed your search to two finalists, one with a business background and one with a playful, upbeat and high energy personality, which one would you choose?  Number two, imagine yourself walking into a fast food restaurant, health club or other establishment and you were treated in a playful, upbeat and high energy manner by the staff.  How would this influence your future decisions if the products were similar?

THAT IS WHY FISH! IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY!

All that is needed to recognize the benefits of “FISH!” is the memory of our own reaction to a playful, engaging, and high-energy workplace.  Here is clincher – if it can be done in a fish market, it can happen anywhere.  The keys to making it happen are at your fingertips.

The following are some important contemporary problems, which could use a little “FISH!” philosophy. Review them with your own issues in mind.

Recruitment and Retention
In most organizations today the number one challenge is recruiting and retaining talent. All rules have changed in the employment market, and organizations are finding themselves with shortages in crucial areas such as research, engineering, marketing, sales, and information technology. The talent shortage in information technology is in mammoth proportions.

Since employees have more choices, they look for places to work where smiles are more common than frowns, where the business is taken seriously, but where people in the business do not take themselves seriously. “FISH!” can be an important step along the path to create such a place.

Energy and Morale
There are many of us who enjoyed high school and college years. But did you ever visit school in the summer when the students were gone? No energy! The difference between an empty school in the summer and a school full of students in the fall is dramatic. Some organizations feel like the empty school building in the summer time, even when everyone is there. No energy! “FISH!” shows you how to generate the energy needed for a high morale work environment.

Change and Stress
“FISH!” philosophy is a stress reliever, and considering all the changes we encounter daily, a little relief goes a long way.

Attitude and Accountability
“FISH!” philosophy is about choosing your attitude each day. It is about a deep accountability where each of us chooses, moment to moment, what kind of a day we will have and what kind of an organization we can be. At Pike Place Fish Market, the fishmongers decided that they wanted to be world famous, and they each took responsibility for contributing to that goal. It takes no more effort, and it is a lot more enjoyable.

Creativity and Innovation
Since all ideas eventually outlive their purpose no organization can grow and prosper without fresh insights. One of the best sources of new ideas is employees, but in many places the sheer weight of the culture stomps out a creative thought before it has a chance to be heard. You can modify such a culture if you teach people how to play. Seriously! A necessary condition for creativity is being able to play.

Teamwork and Engagement
Pike Place Fish Market is a team in the best sense of the word. The collaboration is incredible. All fishmongers accept their share of responsibility for making the team function well and they do it every day!
In books like “Why Teams Don't Work”, by Harvey Robbins, and in related research on teams, one element is identified as being critical to team performance. That element is individual accountability for the success of the team. When each member of the team accepts responsibility for making the teamwork, the team works. “FISH!” reveals such a place in action.
“FISH!” models an advanced teamwork form.  Everyone accepts responsibility for doing what it takes for the team to be successful. How else will we become world famous?

Integrity and Trust
We live a life centered on the values, which we hold dear -- values like respect, accountability, excellence, joy, mirth, passion, contribution, and teamwork -- we are living with integrity. This integrity is the bedrock of trust. The fish guys develop a deep trust of one another as they consistently live according to mutually accepted values.