Work vs Play

When throwing fish is fun, customers come to you!

““The bottom line is to consciously choose the attitude that will make you happier. Try to find joy in your work, befriend your colleagues, laugh and try to have some fun” – Justyna Polaczyk

Getting Fishy!

The Fish! Philosophy was developed by John Cristensen, owner of Charthouse Learning, throughout the late 90’s.

It is a philosophy aimed at increasing positive culture within organisations. Upon a visit to the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle 1997, Christensen noticed how enthusiastic, fun, and present all of the fishmongers were.

The customers in turn would cheer and applaud at this exciting market where they were made to feel special, cared for, and important. Boiled down to a term the Fish Philosophy is all about extraordinary human experience. There are four main ideas behind this approach: Be There, Choose Your Attitude, Play, and Make Someone’s Day. 

• Play

Engage in play. It is a choice to be serious and we as humans have been designed to play. We do it effortlessly as children but thanks to social conditioning it is often trained out of us. Yet it is when we engage in play, when we use our imagination to enhance our experience of the world, that we can engage with the world in a novel, childlike way. Now playing here does not mean making sandcastles with your food or pretending to have fun. Play is about self amusement. To engage in play all you need to do is ask yourself “what would make this moment more enjoyable for me?” 

• Be There 

Be present, be aware, and be there for the people to whom you’re interacting. Give them your full attention. Incorporate the first idea here too, you want to Be There with a healthy does of Self Amusement. To engage in “being there” means being aware of who you’re interacting with, take them in, notice their body language, how they present themselves, what they’re saying, and what they’re wanting. Simply being aware of the person or people you’re communicating with will show care and compassion.

• Choose Your Attitude

Choose your attitude. This is probably the most difficult idea of the philosophy. Choose who you are going to be that day. We are not fixed creatures but are instead reflections of our environment. One cannot simply choose to be happy with thoughts of sadness or loss running around in their head. But they can choose to be at peace with how they feel. You are entitled to feel whatever you feel but if your friends, coworkers, or family are not aware then you strip them of the opportunity to show YOU compassion. In relationship with a customer being “real” can be a very humanising interaction. 

• Make Someone’s Day

We all have it within us to leave the person we’re dealing with better than where they started. Taking from people is exhausting, giving takes little energy. If you are feeling like giving is tiresome then you’re doing it wrong and probably need a bath and a glass of wine. Give from a place of self amusement, of being there, of owning your attitude, and from a desire to create happiness in the world. Making someone’s day improves the sum total of happiness present on the entire planet. 

TL;DR

Too Long; Didn’t Read

“Once application of the four concepts of choosing your attitude, play, make someone’s day, and be there, start, the environment changes to welcome positivity into the work – place.” – Boynes, Karen. “The Fish! Philosophy.” Education Today 4 (2007): 22

By adopting four ideas you will be able to improve the quality of your interactions, relationships, workplace, and customer service. Those are all centred around taking control of your decisions, of creating your own joy, of wanting to be that creator for someone else, and most importantly: finding the fun.

But… how effective is the Fish! Philosophy? “Make yourself happy and you’ll make others happy” is a fine approach but does it take into consideration the elements of the workplace that may contribute to poor mental health, overworking, negative culture, and stress? We at Banana Life believe that implementing the Fish! Philosophy should go hand in hand with mental health awareness and resources so as to avoid any negative behaviours being “swept under the rug”.

To management and admin staff who are looking to improve workplace morale: the Fish! Philosophy will be effective when implemented within a positive workplace culture, but if your employees do not have trust and a sense of autonomy, then you’ll be likely to just be beating a dead fish…