To FISH* and Beyond . . .

Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion and a positive attitude to every job every day. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, their colleagues and to their customers—both internal and external. Now take this further upstream, imagine that your employees believe what they do is an important part of serving a community. Imagine they are committed to serving.

This isn’t a fantasy--it is not Oz and it is not Kansas. It is Vista Irrigation District (VID), a governmental employer that has adopted and customized an organizational development philosophy made famous at Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market. Who would have thought that the FISH Philosophy, a style that had its genesis at Pike Place Fish, a world famous market that is wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful, atmosphere and its great customer service, could work and evolve in a public sector, unionized environment that some might assume to be bureaucratic, dull and plodding? It is especially noteworthy when you consider that this success has taken place in the context of a workforce where the bulk of the employees are involved in hard physical labor that is often performed at any hour, in all weather, and in unpleasant conditions. Indeed, much of the work, while technically challenging, involves sometimes dangerous construction and maintenance challenges—far from ideal conditions for such positive results.

The test of effective team leadership is whether its vision is clear and the extent to which the team becomes aligned to the vision. The goal of VID organizational development efforts, including implementation of the FISH philosophy, was to have its employees move beyond being engaged at work into being committed. The hope was that employees would become committed to more than making their immediate workplace better, but aligned to a loftier goal - that of serving a community.  

So what is FISH? It is a very simple to explain and comprehend vision and philosophy that describes an employee’s relationship to his/her employer, coworkers and customers. There are four simple tenets:

Choose Your Attitude
•    Every day, we are each personally responsible for choosing our own attitude.
•    Attitudes are contagious… Good or bad, they spread like viruses.
•    It’s easy to blame others for our attitudes, but they are truly our attitudes.

Be There
•    Focus and concentrate on listening to all your customers, both internal and external.
•    Being there means we stop doing anything else for the duration of the interaction.
•    Giving someone your undivided attention shows respect for them...anything else shows disrespect.

Make Their Day
•    Providing exemplary customer service is every employee’s responsibility every time.
•    Means taking the initiative to make sure each interaction is positive and notable.
•    Inviting others to join you in solving a problem or experiencing a situation makes a lasting impression on others.

Play
•    Having a good time is healthy.
•    Happy people treat others well.
•    Fun leads to increased energy and creativity.

In VID’s “FISH CAMP” Training, each of the concepts is discussed and reinforced in a progressive series of fun exercises that drop barriers, encourage communication and promote engagement at all levels of the organization. What FISH does is to provide a common ground, including a language and easily understood vision. Once the simple concepts are understood, the focus shifts to following-up and building themes, activities and events that foster an environment that promotes FISH values. In particular, the FISH language makes “attitude” a measurable commodity. Peers and customers can rate one’s ability to “Make My Day” and “Be There.” The various survey data can be used as a tool to coach employees to improve and take control of their own destiny.

Roy Coox, General Manager of VID, said that what he likes best about FISH is: “Our FISH philosophy promotes a workplace where having fun and providing exemplary public service are not mutually exclusive. We have found that empowering our employees and recognizing them for performance, while creating an enjoyable work environment, has resulted in a dedicated and motivated workforce. Our customers, vendors and consultants have all remarked how much our employees seem to enjoy working here. And this year, while we have made cutbacks across the board due to tough economic times, we have decided not to skimp when it comes to appreciating and recognizing our employees.”

At Vista Irrigation District the vision is to be the best, and for each employee to take ownership of the concept that what we do isn’t just a job, it is providing a critical service to our community. The proof of the success of this vision is the extent to which employees report (via focus groups and surveys) commitment to the FISH philosophy and to public service. Since VID “Oh-Fish-ally” adopted the FISH philosophy, the anecdotal and employee satisfaction survey data moved toward strong alignment with the goal of serving the public. In the latest survey (May 2009) 98 percent of VID employees agreed or strongly agreed that working for VID is “more than a job, it is a vital part of serving this community.”

According to General Manager Coox, “VID recognizes that its greatest asset is its employees. And its employees are returning the investment.”

*Our Thanks to the Authors of FISH, A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results, by Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John Christensen.