Gone Fishing!

Last Friday was teacher's first day of school. Kids come on Tuesday. Friday we had inservice all day, basically a big pep talk on getting along and being a support system for each other. This is something that MES hasn't been strong at in the past, and we truly needed the "scolding". We are going to be applying the FISH! principles this year, and hopefully some of the backstabbing will stop.

FISH! is based off of a fish market in Seattle. Instead of coming to work each day depressed and angry (because let's face it, how much fun can working with smelly fish really be?), the people who work there make a conscious choice each day to have a great day and have fun at work. If you visit the actual fish market in Seattle you'll see them truly having a great time...loud jokes, fish being thrown, ...utter chaos actually. You can check it out at http://www.pikeplacefish.com/ or there are several books out: "Fish!: A remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Result"; "Fish! Sticks"; and "Fish! Tales" all by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen (there is also a video)

Anyway, the four basic principles of Fish! are: Play, Make Their Day, Be Present, and Choose Your Attitude.

Play: The fish guys have fun while they work, and fun is energizing. How could we have more fun and creat more energy?
Make Their Day: The fish guys include the customers in their good time. They engage their customers in ways which create energy and goodwill. Who are our customers and how can we engage them in a away that will make their day? How could we make each other's days?
Be Present: The fish guys are fully present at work. What can they teach us about being present for each other and our cusomers?
Choose Your Attitude: The fish guys are aware that they choose their attitude each day. One of the fish guys said, "When you are doing what you are doing, who are you being? Are you being impatient and bored, or are you being world famous? You are going to act differently if you are being world famous" Who do we want to be while we do our work?

We had a lot of good conversation on Friday, and I'm hoping that it will make a difference. Tomorrow we'll meet with our paras and go over these things too. I'm hoping that it is well received.