Winter 2007

The Fish Philosophy Comes to the Office

The Fish! Philosophy is a national organizational culture phenomenon that has helped large companies such as Marriott, Ford Motor Company and Chevron become more energetic and profitable. The concept started at Pike’s Fish Market in Seattle, Washington, where a group of employees, who loved what they did, decided they wanted their fish market to be “World Famous”. What happened next is an organizational development fairy tale.

The Fish! Philosophy is simple. Bring your best to the workplace and give your customers an experience they won’t forget. They will love working with you and using your services. There is no better setting in which to apply this philosophy than the academic service environment where users are energetic and in need of individualized attention.

The Fish! Philosophy has 4 basic concepts: Play; Make Their Day; Be There; and Choose your Attitude. Each of these concepts includes common sense applications that we can use to energize ourselves and the people we work with.

Resources:

For additional information and resources, go to the official FISH! Philosophy web site.

Bringing the FISH! Philosophy to your workplace

These concepts are simple but powerful and they can be used in any work environment. In Employee & Organizational Development, we have seen groups reform their workplace simply by taking responsibility for their actions and committing to a common vision of what they want their workplace to be. There is no timeline or flowchart for the FISH! Philosophy. We have yet to find the perfect implementation manual—in fact it is different for each workplace and each individual. The Fish Philosophy principles are things you do, but more importantly, they are who you are in every aspect of your life. Have fun with them!

If you are interested in bringing the Fish Philosophy seminar to your work group contact us at .