Goin' FISHin' - By Harry I. Paul
	Co-Author of 'FISH! A remarkable Way To Boost Morale and Improve Results and Revved! An incredible Way to Rev Up Your Workplace and Achieve Amazing Results', Harry Paul shows how the FISH philosophy, an attitude of bringing your whole self to work, works.
My dad Jack is 86 years old and for the past three years has been working part time at a local WaWa convenience store near his home in Pennsylvania, the oldest employee for the family-owned chain. Because of his age, he decided to stop working at the WaWa because it was just a bit too far from home. One day he was having brunch with my mother at a local delicatessen and one of his regular customers at the WaWa came over to him and said the coffee didn't taste as good after he left. My father mused to my mother that it must be because he cleaned the pot before he brewed a new one. He couldn't come up with any other reason that the coffee might taste better. But then a new WaWa opened closer to his home and he went to work there. Two thirds of his customers followed him to the new store. Why did they follow him? It's not because he washes out the pots better. It's because he's nice to people, he makes them laugh and creates a positive experience which, in turn, makes the coffee seem to taste better. My dad has been awarded three gold medals for outstanding customer service in his three years with the company. What can we learn from how Jack made the coffee taste better? Story continues below ↓ Advertisement I'm going to help you see how the FISH philosophy, an attitude of bringing your whole self to work, works. The FISH philosophy came from an unlikely workplace, the World Famous Pike Place Fish in Seattle. Not your ordinary fish market - this one really is world famous. It's so famous that they've been featured on television shows and in movies such as Frazier and Free Willy. From national magazines to major newspapers, reporters tell their story. Let's face it, fish mongering is not a glam job. If you're like me, none of us wanted to grow up and become a fishmonger. Yet the guys that work at the market love their jobs and are world famous. Not only because of their trademark throwing the fish across the market or shouting out and repeating everyone's order. But because they bring an attitude, a passion and an energy to their work that is infectious. So much so, that they show us that no matter what you do you can enjoy your work and be successful as well. People from all over the world want to learn how the Pike Place Fish team does it. They didn't start our world famous. They became that way because they changed the way they had been doing things. They had a change in attitude and a change in culture. Just like my dad, they found ways to make work a destination where people wanted to be, a place where the focus was not only on performance, but also on values. People have to feel valued in the workplace. If people do not feel good about what they do, they don't want to work harder. I call it creating a workplace that has a FISH attitude. It's a place where people feel they get to make a difference, that it's a place they want to be. It's not really about playing instead of working, but of finding ways to enjoy the work we do. Employees have to know the mission of the organization. If they know the mission, then they can look for opportunities to fulfill the mission. It makes people feel good about working for an organization. Here are the objectives to use when creating that culture in your organization: � Identify ways to have FUN at work � Build performance AND values � Create stories that reinforce your desired culture � Come up with ideas you can use right away As Lew Platt, former CEO of Hewlett Packard said once, 'Whatever made you successful in the past, won't in the future.' It's important to always reinvent yourself and always looking for ways to make things better. The FISH philosophy has four main parts: � Choose Your Attitude � Play � Be There � Make Their Day Choose Your Attitude: It all starts with attitude. Each day we have to ask ourselves the question. "Am I choosing the right attitude?" It�s a simple choice when we get up in the morning. Are you going to be magnificent or ordinary today? We don�t need anyone�s permission to be magnificent. Think about the work you do. Is it worthwhile? Are you making a difference? Is it making the world a better place? If you can answer yes to one or more of those questions you have to choose magnificent. It's thinking about what we are doing in a different way, no matter what our work is. Am I washing windows or providing clear vision, Am I washing dishes or providing people with a clean, germ-free environment from which to consume food: Am I making this metal pin in a machine shop, or making a vital piece of the braking system for a passenger jet. When you look at work in this way your choice of attitude is clear. Choose wisely. Play: Too many people walk around like their underwear is on too tight. They have these grumpy looks on their faces. It's time to loosen up at work. We were all told the same things growing up. That work and play and different and separate. You remember. When you finish your homework you can go play. When you�re done with your chores you can go play. If you had parents like mine, we had to change into our special clothes before we could play. No wonder we think work and play can't go hand in hand. Yes work can be fun, not matter what you do. Even Disney made the point that work can be enjoyable. Think about what the seven dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, what did do while they worked. They whistled. Was their work glamorous? No, they worked in a mine, but they enjoyed it. You, too can find ways of enjoying your work. Be There: Being there, being present is one of the foundations of the FISH! Philosophy. It's not just about paying attention, looking people in the eyes, and listening. It's about understanding your culture, your values, your mission, and how you live them. It's about being part of a team. Being There comes from the heart and making a difference in people's lives. It's looking for vision moments that allow you do this. It's about always looking for the opportunity to live your vision. Make Their Day: Making someone's day is all about making them saying WOW! That felt good. It's about the experience people have when they do business with you. Nowadays people think that the E in E-Commerce stands for electronic. Successful companies know the E stands for Experience. What will they remember about doing business with you? Think about it. If you go to a restaurant and the food is great and the service is terrible, you've had a bad dining experience. And if you go out to eat and the food is okay but the service was outstanding, that was a nice dining experience. Experience can make an okay product better just as easily as it can make a great product bad. And it's just not about making people's day at work, the FISH! Philosophy works at home, and in all aspects of your life. It starts when you wake up in the morning. Do you wake up wanting to make the world a better place? At the Seattle Fish Market they wake up that way, they make people feel good. And they sell a lot of fish. My dad's attitude makes people drive out of their way to buy coffee from him. And he sells a lot of coffee. Harry does presentations on FISH and making work a destination. Check out his website at: www.harryipaul.com.