FISH! Philosophy of Teamwork Essay Example for Free

FISH Philosophy of Teamwork tryFISH is a philosophy people around the world are implementing in workplaces and educational facilities to table service foster mutant and groupwork in their business. This philosophy is interesting and has been successful. The founders Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen pulled together to create tercet books on teamwork which are named _ seek, Fish Sticks and Fish Tales._ In these books they give pointers and tell stories of how making work fun and working as a team creates success. (Lundin, Paul, Christensen, 2000) The idea of this philosophy emerged in 1998 from a film produced by John Christensen. The film is about Seattles World Famous Pike Place Market. John translated and depicted finished his film that even in a workplace where fishmongers spent smelly 12 hour shifts stocking, selling, and pugilism fish that nasty things female genitals happen when people accept the invitation to 1) Be There for their co-workers a nd customers, 2) Play, 3) Make someones mean solar day and 4) Choose their attitude about how they show up for work. (Christensen, 2007, p. 1) After the film appeared the book _Fish,_ this has been on the outdo sellers list and translated into 17 different languages. Today the Fish Philosophy has flourished among corporate and educational markets throughout the world. We are zero(prenominal) afraid to use words like love, soul, and spirit because those are an essential give of our humanity. alone these values are plainly as important to businessesWe are on a journey together. (Christensen, 2007, p. 1)Lundin, Paul, and Christensen count that there are four secrets and strategies for a better way to create fun and teamwork in businesses. First, be there for co-workers. The big(p)gest ways to do this is by smiling and acknowledging people musical composition walking by them. enounce hello, converse with co-workers, be friendly and abet co-workers gag. Take the time to liste n to people around the workplace. When comprehend a co-worker non happy, go up to them and give them a pat on the endure and a compliment. Make an effort and try to get to know everyone. Show up for work to garter the team. A team is not a team with people missing. These are all some of the things we bed do to be there for co-workers. These strategies are used worldwide and seem to help. The second strategy is to runaway at work. Playing helps energize the workplace.Some examples of play are telling jokes to co-workers, maybe even crack around appropriate jokes (no personal jokes), saying things throughout the day to help people laugh. Have head days where everybody dresses up differently. Having office riveies helps unite play and team because everyone gets together. Create bulletin boards and decorate the office with fun stuff ensuring everyones involvement. Making work fun helps work to get done and makes people trust to participate in a team. Third, make someones day which is easy to do and makes the team run smoother. some(prenominal) ways to make someones day are as easy as saying hello, complimenting their looks, bringing scorched goods to work, having a trickdy bowl out for others to enjoy, thanking people for the small and often overlooked things they do for us, acknowledging others accomplishments, cosmos nice, and by simply volunteering our time.When working as a team it is very important to remember team means we not I that is why it is so important to help the team work easier. (Morton, 2007) Fourth, get your attitude. Attitude plays an important role in teamwork as well. The good thing about attitude is you can choose a new one. Some ways to keep a positive attitude and help support the team are start each day with a personal positive thought, go to work with a positive attitude, put on a smile, start the day with a laugh or by being helpful, think positive. If you feel yourself getting a bad attitude shift it so it does not affe ct others, be pleasant even if your day is not going well, exit home at home and last walk around, speak to co-workers and wish them a good day. favored teams all over the world are using these strategies and making them work. Some of these teams are Ford take Company, Wells Fargo, Sprint, the U.S. Army, the May O Clinic, Harley-Davison, the National Weather Service and Verizon Wireless. (Lundin, Paul, Christensen, 2000)An article about Verizon Wireless soft on(p) an interest to me. It tells about how the Fish Philosophy has helped the Southfield Verizon Wireless office. Call centers can be tough. Upset and hot customers call with billing and service questions, even problems. They chew up whoever answers the phone and results can hurt the company. They could puzzle loss of customers, revenue, and employees. In a Southfield Verizon office receiving approximately 5,000 calls a day, you would probably expect it to be a stressful and frustrating place to work but due to them applyi ng the Fish Philosophy they say no. Instead the cubicles are decorated with cartoon fish and lessons for employees are taped on construction paper, employees can look forward to special days such as Mardi Gras, Black History and many others. not only are they just all around happy, out of 273 employees, most appear happy. Verizon started using _Fish_ in 2002 and reported results oblige been excellent. There was a significant decline in the call centers complaints. The Southfield Verizon center that uses this philosophy ranks top amongst the companys other 24 four call centers for solving customer problems on the first call. (Morath, 2005)How amazing that a philosophy developed from watching quaky workers at Seattles Pike Place Fish Market rent fun, interact with customers and become a tourist attraction even though very smelly and not the cleanest place, tends to inspire, motivate, and engage employees through a system that makes work fun by rewarding creativity empowering employe es. nearly of all they keep employees and even more important they work as a team. (Morath, 2005) These are just some of the many successful companies using the Fish Principles and this philosophy continue to grow. Teamwork is a vital part of feeling and we apply it everyday. We use it all over the place,why not have fun while doing it. (Tucker, 2007)Doing this research on _Fish_ not only interested me but has taught me a great deal. I have learned some very helpful tips in just this little time and if applied force truly help me not only in my job but with life and lifes struggles. Being part of a team is better than trying to accomplish tasks by oneself. I plan to keep breeding and applying the Fish Philosophy and the four principles Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose the right attitude to enhance my life and work.ReferencesChristensen, J. (2007). _FISH Philosophy What is FISH._ Retrieved August 15, 2007, from http//www.charthouse.com.Lundin, S. C., Paul, H., Christen sen, J. (2000). _FISH_ New York, NY Hyperion.Morath, E. (2005). Fish Philosophy catches on_._ _Michigan Live, 2005_, Retrieved August 15, 2007, from http//www.mlive.com.Morton, B. (2007, August 11, 2007). Team big concept in todays workplace (Final Edition). _Star Phoenix, Saskatoon, Sask, 2007, August_, Pg. F.20. Retrieved August 13, 2007, from ProQuest database. (Document ID 1319529891).Tucker, C. (2007, March 21). Having fun at work and play Fish followers Fish Philosophy helps workers have fun. _York Daily Record,_ p. 6. Retrieved September 5, 2007, from ProQuest database. (Document ID 1240070001).