Do you want to improve customer service, team engagement, and employee loyalty? The Original Fish Philosophy Video is a great place to start.
It’s a real-life example that demonstrates how one business transformed from unknown and underperforming to Highly Successful and World Famous. This video highlights the importance of treating others with respect and dignity. But it doesn’t stop there. You need a strategy for how to use this video in your organisation so you can get the best results possible.
Best Selling Training Video of All Time
Once The Fish Philosophy video was released over 20 years ago, it skyrocketed to the number one business training video in the world.
This story highlighted the Fishmongers as the Hero and their journey of transformation from employees dealing with hard working conditions, long hours, and of course, handling and selling smelly raw fish. Still, they managed to create an environment of joy and fun through their contagious positive energy and authentic customer interactions. Business owners and managers from Top brands watched in awe and confessed that they wanted this same energy and passion from their employees. That’s when they started to share this video with their teams in mass numbers.
Fish Philosophy Video Summary
The original FISH film provides a brief overview of how one team chose to practise four simple principles daily; Be There, Choose Their Attitude, Make Their Day, and Play.
Be There
This principle is the foundation piece of the FISH philosophy. When people choose to be fully present in the moment it allows them to be emotionally present for people. Be There is a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships.
Choose Your Attitude
Choosing your attitude is a life skill that when practiced allows people to take responsibility for how they respond to what life throws at them. The attitudes we choose have an impact on others – so the key is to ask yourself: ‘Is my attitude helping or hurting people? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?”
Make Their Day
There are numerous benefits to integrating this principle into your daily routine. Make Their Day is about finding simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life – not because you want something, but because that’s the person you want to be.
Play
When a business purchases the Fish Video to share with their team without a full training strategy they are almost always set themselves up for failure. What we have seen in the past is organisations are looking for a quick fix.
They know they need to address the lack of communication or low staff morale, or poor customer service, and they don’t have a big budget, so they decide to share the Fish video. They usually do this at a team meeting or maybe even a conference.
“Here watch this video about a group of Fishmongers that are World Famous. Now, go and do something similar here.” We are paraphrasing but you get the idea. This type of approach will never work and you are setting your team and yourself up for failure.
Typical Company Training Programs
When a business purchases the Fish Video to share with their team without a full training strategy they are almost always set themselves up for failure. What we have seen in the past is organisations are looking for a quick fix.
They know they need to address the lack of communication or low staff morale or poor customer service, and they don’t have a big budget, so they decide to share the Fish video. They usually do this at a team meeting or maybe even a conference.
“Here watch this video about a group of Fishmongers that are World Famous. Now, go and do something similar here.” We are paraphrasing but you get the idea. This type of approach will never work and you are setting your team and yourself up for failure.
Employees' Attitude Towards Video Training Programs
When you only show the video you are robbing your team of the full experience. We have come across organisations that claim to have delivered Fish training and yet they have actually only shown the Fish Video at induction or during a team meeting.
What that does is give the employees a very basic introduction of what another company has done a very long time ago. Often we hear that some of the younger generations say it is not relevant since they can not relate to throwing fish. There is so much that can be lost when only a video is shown.
Many employees will even zone out when they watch a video and we know that people learn in a variety of ways. Most effective learning is experiential. Getting your team involved will require so much more than just showing a video.
You will also need to make this relatable to your team. If you are selling Fish at a Fish Market this video will be instantly relatable but what if you are selling working in an Art Gallery or serving drinks at a high-class venue or greeting Guests at a Five Star venue. How will your team throw their own version of Fish into what they do every day?
It Pays To Have A Strategy
Organisations that have a strategy or fishing plan in place are the ones that are coming out winners. They are still sharing the fish video but only as a part of an entire program or Culture Strategy.
We have been working closely with our clients to tailor our workshops and culture coaching based on the desired outcomes and have incorporated each client’s values into all training components.
This achieves a stronger connection with the philosophy and a deeper understanding of how to practically embed Fish into a daily routine. It also helps to breathe new life into an organisation’s values and many of our clients have used Fish as a way to launch new or refreshed values to their team. All of our programs include online training as a follow-up and additional customised resources that really help to keep Fish alive, fresh and relevant.
Company Culture
Top brands across the globe have worked hard on their culture. They understand that to be successful they need to create an environment where people are happy to come to work every day, feel valued & appreciated for their contribution.
What does your company culture have to say about your brand? Are they happy? What is the trust level of your organisation?
Employee Retention
It’s no secret that employee turnover is expensive. The costs of replacing a departing staff member can include ramp-up time, lost productivity while the new hire learns their job, any mistakes or errors in service quality. But maintaining a positive culture with your team will cost you less than you think!
When employees feel engaged at work, they stay longer because employers go out of their way to make them happy – there are many ways leaders show this care, including creating opportunities for learning on-the-job through mentoring and teaching methods used by successful people; fostering open communication channels, so everyone feels comfortable coming forward if problems arise which helps resolve issues before they become too big to handle alone; providing regular feedback about what individuals do well as compared to areas where improvement.
Increased Productivity
Positive company cultures have values that every employee knows by heart. Workplace involvement: Great companies support their employees in ways through work and play, providing fun activities for them even when they are away from the office with busy schedules.
Customer Service
The Fish Philosophy helps people realize that they have the power to control their attitude and it’s a great first step in any Customer Service Improvement program. If customers are greeted with smiles, you’re off to a good start! Additionally, we all like being around uplifting individuals who make us feel better about ourselves.
The Fish Philosophy Origins
World Famous Pike Place Fish Market
John Christensen was fascinated by people who loved their work. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a filmmaker and natural storyteller. During a business trip to Seattle, he found himself with a free day and decided to check out the Pike Place Fish Market.
This is where he came across the Pike Place Fish Market that captivated him because what they were doing appeared so interesting and passionate about it! John’s visit inspired him to make an awesome training video called “The FISH! Philosophy” This became one of the most popular training videos amongst Fortune 500 companies! FISH!’s popularity made sense when everyone realized how much fun you can have at any job if you love it enough.
John Christensen
John has been speaking to many different organizations about his journey – the serendipitous discovery of the fish market– and how The FISH! Philosophy helps create alive employees who are inspired to solve real business issues.
