Help taking the "bad fish taste" out of their mouths.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sean Nolan on September 17, 2008 at 3:37pm

Hi Jennifer:

I have been training FISH! in my organization now for almost 18 months. Being in the hospitality industry, I have taken FISH! on the road to our various resorts, as well as our corporate offices. I solicit feedback on any training session that I facilitate and so far, have received mostly positive reviews on FISH!, but there are some concerns within my groups. I have been to all of our resorts twice now, presenting two different FISH! courses. The biggest concern I hear is that some participants felt the two classes were a little redundant. I had tried to make both classes quite different, but inevitably, time is spent on the 4 philosophies and it can feel repetitive. I am beginning to plan out my third class to be presented sometime at the beginning of 2009 and am trying to decide how to take the positive aspects of it and enhance them, while at the same time trying to keep FISH! fresh. One thought I had was to have my training groups be responsible for facilitating part of the session themselves. Most of my organization's employees know my personal take on FISH! and although I do solicit interactive participation during meetings, I think that maybe if they were responsible for creating part of the session, it might get them to reflect on what these philosophies truly mean to them.

Good Luck

Sean Nolan

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shari Bommarito-Riley on October 24, 2008 at 11:27am

Hi Jennifer!
I am Shari, the nurse from Vital Signs! I have been where you are with many organizations. In general, I see this happen when the philosophy is not truly encultured. If you have been feeding your Fish with what I call 'days' (crazy hat day, pot luck fishfood day) then you may need to dive deeper. Try this...try a gratitude exercise. Gratitude is better FishFood than anything. Try a bulletin board, "YOU are FINtastic!" across the top. Go to any teacher supply store to buy fish shaped notes and allow the staff to THANK each other for all they do. Maybe add small Fish prizes they can give to each other. Gratitude is an incredibly powerful thing! This will help foster teamwork and steers your group to a culture of Gratitude.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jay Larson on January 5, 2009 at 9:46am

Hey Jennifer,
These are great suggestions and hopefully, they are making a difference.
I would also try a topical approach. Arrange a session focused on an issue or change you would like to see - ie: increasing morale, customer service, the power of attitude, etc.
This way it won't seem like "another FISH! meeting" even though you look at the issue through the lens of the FISH! Philosophy.
I would gather any and all feedback and input you can from them. Get past the accolades of "it was fun" or "yeah, I think we need this around here". Dig in and see whether they believe it can happen and why or why not, see if you can uncover some real motivations for going forward with the program and approach from that strength vs. Be There, Play, Make Their Day or Choose Your Attitude. It will mean more to them.

Let me know if you'ld like to speak about this on the phone - maybe we can help.
Jay Larson
ChartHouse Speaker/Facilitator
612-805-2249

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ASHWANI on January 5, 2009 at 9:56pm

Hi
yEA We do this kind of survey every 3 months to see if Fish still working in our organization . we follow a simple mantra : Stick to fish if you feel its not working - re commit to it . Hey please watch video on this website which i posted aftrr my return frm Seattle ,i ACTUALLY interview Justine "The fish monger-watch out Fishy lesson with Justin . aND IF YOU WISH I CAN FWD YOU SOME of the results of our survey .

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kim Beatty on February 12, 2009 at 10:10am

Hello!

I work in a "quality" department - I'm the primary auditor for one unit within the company, and responsible for rolling out FISH to them. Last year was the first time with this, and had less than stellar results. There was a lot of resistance among the group - they've been through a lot of changes and as creatures of habit they don't much care for it! FISH just gave them one more thing to worry about, and I have a feeling many feel it's something they have to do as part of their job.

I want to take that aspect away from them - I want them to *want* to participate! I have no idea how! They are a very discouraging bunch - they look at me like I belong in a room with padded walls! Their manager has spoke with them, and I think told some of the "main offenders" that it was part of their performance appraisals - which I don't agree with. I think FISH will only work if it is something you CHOOSE to participate in with an open mind.

At any rate, I've been thinking of surveying the group to get a feel for what they want out of FISH. We have limited resources to work with - they've seen the video, but I don't think they can translate it into their own work environment (one comment I heard was, "So what, we have to start throwing work at each other now?") I am at a loss for what to ask them - I am afraid "What do you like about FISH?" is too open-ended and I'm not sure I'll get too many replies! Does any one have a sample survey that I could work with?

(Sorry for the long, rambling first post!!)

Thanks in advance,
Kim

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Deanna Lindsay-Williams on February 16, 2009 at 8:44am

We are looking to possibly bring FISH into our call center. Most of us believe it will be a great success in motivation and teamwork; as always however there are some doubting the philosophy. What makes it work the best? and how do you work with those who are "set" without them realizing that you are "changing" things around which then allows for the wall of negativity to come up? Thank you Deanna

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Turney on March 4, 2009 at 6:05am

Personally, particularly in industries not so sticky to things like Fish!, there are 3 things; context, speed & engagement. I don't really think it's going to get you any further by surveying the participants, especially if you're already sensing resistance.

The Fish philosophies are so simple, to me it's unbelievable that people don't see them. However they don't, and too often they relate the principles back to the origin; a seafood market store. So it's imperative to show context, whether that be by case studies, stories or illustrations. It's what I call a BFO (Blinding Flash of Obvious). It's that moment when it 'clicks' and suddenly the context is brought home.

Secondly, related, is speed. It's most often not good to thrust this onto cynical, perhaps unwilling participants (remember, unless you're fortunate enough to be speaking a t aseminar where people have paid for the seat, you're ost likely presenting to a group in which many are 'unwilling' participants) with too much gusto. We believe it, and - if you're like me - feel like slapping people who don't. Reality is though, many don't so it's a slow build up. Hit context though and it's like lighting a grass fire.

Third, engagement. It's absolutely essential, especially in context (there's that word again) of my last point. Unless the participants 'feel' Fish!, it won't fly. There's a good case for encouraging champions to take hold, but in the harsh light of day, even that can be hard to take. In the end though, it's up to them, though keep up with the follow through, encouragement and let your own attitude shine.

David

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bill Gamble on October 22, 2009 at 10:06am

Hey Jen,
I always enjoy gettting a survey together and asking for feedback from the entire company. Sometimes all you get back are statements like... "I like it." But now and again I'll get a gem of concern or misunderstatnding. I really enjoy conflicting ideas and promote positive conflict in our bimonthly meetings. Nothing gets my interest peeked and refreshes my creativity like a good argument. I love talking through concerns to find out the root, and great ideas usually stem from these discussions.

Fish is about everyone participating and actually being a part of the Philosophy. I'll ask my team how it's going, what they think, and what their concerns are. If it seems people are reluctant to speak or give their real opinion, I'll present a concern of mine. I ask everyone in the group to discuss openly and what we should do. Get the info. One of the most important things in my opinion is to define Fish for your group. We can all read the book and try to be Pike Place but it won't work till people internalize the philosophy. In order to internalize, it needs to make sense to your orgainization.

• ▶ Reply