Pike Place Fish! - Could Lessons Learnt From Pike Place Fish Work For You?

Fish! by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul & John Christensen Published by Hyperion in 2000, 107 pages.

If you are unhappy at work, you may be thinking of applying for a new job and going in search of a fun group of people to work with. In Fish!, we read a story about a mid-level manager who plans to do just that as she realises that the passion is long gone from her current employment. We all know the feeling when work is a drag, we go in search of something new, looking of fun places to get a coffee or perhaps spending lunch away from the office outside in the sun, or if you are lucky enough, on the beach. It is on one of these searches that the main character of this book, Mary Jane, stumbles across the Pike Place Fish Market. Pike Place Fish Market is known for the way that it injects fun into aspect of the work place and if it can be done in the environment of a fish market, it can be done anywhere.

Although Fish! has been published for 10 years and has been made into a successful film by John Christensen (who is a filmmaker by trade by the way) and adopted into thousands of corporations, I hadn’t heard of Fish! until it was recommended to me by a colleague recently. We were talking about how enthusiasm and enjoying what you do is really fundamental to small business success. This practical self-help book provides guidance through development of the case-study of Mary Jane’s workplace where she creates a work environment where people want to stay.

Fish! is a quick read and well worth placing on your library reserve list. I couldn’t put it down. Told in the form of a parable, it is a fun read and not preachy at all. I even applied the take away message of ‘Work made fun gets done!’ to getting the kids to tidy the rumpus. Try it. It really does work.

In my work as an entrepreneur and University lecturer, it is often stated that while doing the work, whether it be helping complete job sheets for organisational clients or advertising to generate leads, or doing term papers, it is really important to have fun. How do we make placing advertisements and running flyer drops fun? say the small business owners. For the answer, look no further than the story based on Pike Place Fishmarket – Fish! Bound to motivate you to make a change and take a chance.

Pike Place Fish! - Could Lessons Learnt From Pike Place Fish Work For You?