About the FISH! philosophy

Have you ever seen a flying fish? If not yet, then click here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGwo67vCh4U . 

No, we are not at a zoological exhibition: the film introduces the world famous FISH! theory.

Seattle, Pike Place fish market: we see cheerful, energetic fishmongers who are arranging special fish, crabs and octopuses. The dynamism of the place is fascinating from the first moment: the workers lively throwing fish to each other while reciting poems. They are joking and playing with the customers who obviously enjoy it. We see the lights of flashes everywhere, this is indeed a tourist attraction.

The owner of the place introduces himself as well. He explains that they started selling fish approximately ten years ago based on his own idea. Over the years more and more companies observed the model, these companies today use the Pike Place model to motivate their co-workers. In the next pictures we are in an office building at a company training where instead of the fishmongers the office workers are throwing fish to each other.

Stephen C. Lundin, Ph. D., Harry Paul and John Christensen created the world famous FISH! theory based on the model of the Pike Place fish market. What are the underlying principles of the FISH! theory?

FIRST PRINCIPLE: PLAY! The first principle encourages people to play a little bit at their workplace. We know from the work of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi that not only serious work can be useful, not at all! Work done playfully gives more satisfaction to the person who does it. The playfulness of the fishmongers might seem to be clowning to many people. But why should we be serious at a fish market?

SECOND PRINCIPLE: MAKE THEIR DAY! The message of the second principle is: involve your clients in the experience, make the encounter unforgettable for them! The experience of the clients obviously determines their satisfaction which has a good effect on business turnover as well: if the client leaves with a nice experience then most likely he will return.

THIRD PRINCIPLE: BE THERE! The third principle encourages us to effectively take part in the processes, not only physically. Pay our respect to the clients, make them feel that they are the most important! Be present, pay attention to them. Devotion is a good experience not only for the clients, but we will also enjoy our tasks more if we go at it hard.

FOURTH PRINCIPLE: CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE! According to the fourth principle we can choose our attitude in the morning just as we choose the clothes we wear. If we cannot change our workplace, our boss and our employees we can still decide by all means if we want to suffer due to the circumstances or we try to feel good as far as possible.

The FISH! theory is taught at company trainings in a number of countries all over the world including Hungary. The theory was elaborated in a book which is available in Hungarian.

In the book entitled FISH! we learn about the story of Mary Jane Ramirez who is given the task to turn a group of employees with low working morale, bad habits and low motivation into an effective and motivated group. In the story Mary Jane pays a visit to the Pike Place fish market and after she learns about the four principles of the FISH! theory she takes her colleagues to the market as well. During their common work they manage to apply the principles of the FISH! theory, they achieve the common goal and the story has a happy end.

The book has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

The FISH! theory is the recipe of success for many people but for others it only remains a colourful illusion. Most of the people believe in the approach according to which people have to suffer for a significant result, and that you should not mix playing and working.

However, everybody should take into account the energy level in the working environment. Is there a possibility for playing, are the colleagues present spiritually and do they give an uplifting or a depressive experience to each other and to the clients?

And now, guys, let's get back to our work, and have fun. If ten fishmongers can do it, definitely we can do it as well.