Is the Power of Positive Thinking A Bit Fishy?

Well, to say work has been tough lately would be the understatement of the year. I would tell you about it, but to be honest I don’t believe there is enough space on this blog, nor do I want to bore you with the details. Needless to say, that the fact that I have begun this new initiative at all is a testament to my “never give up attitude” and the power of positive thinking.

To that end, my co-worker Michael and our two leads, Alisha and Josh have put together a rather “fishy” presentation. No, it’s not something to be suspicious of, and it doesn’t have a bad smell. Rather it is a philosophy based on the Seattle Fish Market’s Fish Philosophy (Pike’s Peak – you know where they toss the fish that you order around at each other). Basically, what it states is that you can have fun in a work environment and still be competitive and get the job done. Novel idea, eh? It’s about choices…the choices we make as individuals and the choices that we make as a team and company.

For instance, you can be having a rather crappy day, but you can make the choice when you walk through the doors at work to take the “cr” out of crappy and replace it with an “h”. (I know it was rather cheesy, but you have to admit, a bit clever too, right? For all you overly tired moms and dads, I just changed the word crappy to happy – loses the effect if it has to be explained, eh?).

Anyway, we (Michael, Josh, Alisha and I) have decided that enough is enough. We are going to infuse a little oxygen and life (in keeping with the fish analogy) into our everyday work environments. In doing so, we have instituted music into our daily routine. Twice a day we will play random music and everyone is to stop and dance and sing (to their heart’s content). It is meant to be fun and shake out the stress. I have to say, I feel a bit goofy and retarded, but after a quick dance I did feel a little less stressed and a little happier. 



Additionally, we bought a couple of blowfish (blue and stuffed – note: actual blowfish were not harmed in the making of this presentation) and have instituted a “Bestow the Blowfish” (thanks to Josh’s clever SAT words) award. In keeping with the theme, if a rep recognizes another person doing a great job, they are to “bestow the blue blowfish” to that person to say…”hey, you are doing a great job and I noticed”. I hope that it becomes a personal mission for each of my employees to receive the blowfish, so they too can feel the utter joy and happiness at bestowing the blowfish. (hehe…I just like saying it. Try it yourself…bestow the blowfish…just rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it).

Additionally, we are reverting back to the days of ol’ – our youthful days when all we did was drink lemonade and play “Go Fish”. In this bit, our leads (Josh and Alisha) get to choose a rep that has displayed a positive attitude throughout the week, or done something exceptional and nominate them to “go fish” for a prize out of our fish bowl that Michael and I purchased.



Anyway, it is a fun project that I hope will continue on for awhile. I am anxious and curious to see what kind of choices that each individual makes, as well as what kind of choices the team(s) makes. To inspire everyone to feel a bit goofy, we all wore metallic wigs in our favorite colors while presenting. I mean, who can really take someone seriously when they have a blow up microphone and metallic wig on. Of course, I have provided pictures so that you can see us in our true glory.

I have even provided a nice little video of some of our dancing moves. Enjoy!!