Go 'Fish:'.

• Position: Management prinicples found on fishphilosophy.com - Brief Article

It's Play, But It's Not a Game

It all started when John Christensen was standing around at a fish market in Seattle, watching a bunch of guys throwing fish to each other. It led to an epiphany of sorts:

"The fishmongers were...making spectacular catches and inviting delighted customers to try their luck," Christensen writes on his web site, www.fishphilosophy.com. "The market was crowded and noisy, but when one of the fishmongers focused on a customer, it was like they were the only two people in the place. Everyone was smiling! And the cash registers were ringing like crazy.

"I was amazed. Why couldn't my workplace pulse with this kind of energy and passion and wholeheartedness?"

The epiphany led to a company, then to a product, a book, a videotape, a website and a number of enthusiastic followers. Pete Selenke, district manager of the Kansas City region of Firstar Bank, is one of those followers.

"We all have to work," says Selenke. "We might as well have fun doing it."

Firstar found four fundamental principles in the FISH! Program, produced by Charterhouse Learning, which are not so much directives as they are "ways of being:"

Play. When work is made fun, it's more likely to get done, the day seems shorter, and creativity is more likely to develop.

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