It isn't new but more than any other industry in the world, call centers seems to be most applicable place to evangelize the FISH! Philosophy. Has it made any impact on employees on how they deal with customers? Has it encouraged managers to live up to it in terms of dealing with their employees? Is it a farce?
The Fish! Philosophy came out way back almost at the turn of the last century when video producer now turned CEO John Christensen began filming at the Pike's Place Fish market in Seattle. It revolves around 4 simple concepts he concluded from the video: Be There, Play, Make Their Day and Choose Your Attitude. Without even going through these rigorously a call center person can already deduct how applicable these are to a call center workplace and like was 4 years ago as a supervisor I was quickly sold into it!
For readers who haven't gone through this training video, here's my take on how these 4 concepts of the Fish! Philosophy applies to call centers:
1. Be There - encourages employees to literally BE THERE for their co-employees, and customers. It isn't fun when some people are absent while the rest who are present are further burdened with more workload that were supposed to have gone to the absentees. More absences means more calls for people who came are there.
2. Have Fun - Simple. Having FUN takes a lot of stress of the shoulders of everybody. Having fun at work with your co-employees "may" encourage people to love the work they do, come to work often and deal with customers better.
3. Make Their Day - Making somebody happy for what you have done for them on a daily basis can also translate into a "feel-good" emotion that makes you realize the significance of your work.
4. Choose Your Attitude - You either choose to grudge about your work or be happy with what you're doing. Its as simple as that.
It was all good at that time when we all were whisked away so quickly from the ops floor to the training room to watch this 30 minutes or so video. Coming out of it encouraged and enlightened. as supervisors, we all wanted to live the Fish Philosophy and wanted to ensure our agents did too. The problem was the loose 4th concept "Choose Your Attitude".
The concept leaves room for people to choose to be grumpy, condescending and uncooperative. We couldn't tell them otherwise because THAT'S the Fish Philosophy. At that time, I also now remember the management wasn't living it through their actions either. How does a company encourages a Workforce Management concept if the leaders are embodying it first and foremost. As a whole, the problem I see with the Fish! Philosophy is that it is rather a self-centered creed rather than a customer goal-oriented value. It is a fact of life that people have their ups and downs. I think it is going to be unrealistic to expect individuals to act like they enjoy what their doing on a daily basis. A snippet from Wikipedia also presents a funny anecdote about it below:
To grasp just how presumptuous Fish! really is, just try a thought experiment: imagine management’s reaction if the circumstances were reversed. Imagine the bosses’ reaction if you and your coworkers matter-of-factly announced that, henceforth, you would be working at a slower pace for the same amount of money, or that you would be receiving a higher hourly wage. Imagine telling the boss "you can’t do anything about these changes, but you can choose to have a good attitude about them!" My guess is your boss would demonstrate in short order that he does have control over events, and that it’s not his attitude that has to be adjusted. That’s because, while you may be powerless, your bosses most certainly are not.
This asymmetrical power relationship is implicit in Fish! Philosophy. And you’d better believe that the people who push it are fully aware of their agenda. They are the ones who do things. We are the ones that things are done to. Learn to enjoy it, or else. That’s the message of Fish! Philosophy.
In summary, as good as the Fish! Philosophy sounds for the call center environment, it may be just as good as any other alternative workforce management system.
5 comments here!:
How much pay for German-speakers CSR? Where I apply?
Wow! Number 1 call center blog in the Phils ha...! Naks naman... :)
I think you missed the point with Choose Your Attitude. FISH! programs do not mandate that you choose a positive attitude. Such a mandate is contrary to choosing. Rather, FISH! programs remind people that they have the power to choose: Rather than react, respond. We have the power-- and the choice-- to be happy, sad, optimistic, doomsayer.
There is a story of Steve Lundin, who helped create FISH! concepts with John Christensen, arriving to work grumpy. The receptionist asked how he was and he said, "grumpy." The receptionist then (playfully) made an internal annoucement that Steve was grumpy and be forewarned. Steve chose the attitude and, ironically, in choosing and owning it, he quickly made a new choice. Not because his employer mandated his attitude, but because Steve cares about who he is Being as a person and chose to act more consistent with his vision of the person he wants to be.
The ability to choose your attitude is a powerful reminder that we can respond (not react) to news. Given bad news, we can be unproductive and problematic, or problem-solving. It's a matter of choosing.
Hi Mike,
No. I did not miss the point with the fourth concept. In fact, choosing your attitude is the loophole of this whole philosophy. As stated with the thought experiment at the end the article, while is possible and superficially looks enticing to teach people to live the Fish! Philosophy, ultimately having that freedom can possibly back fire to the people who are in control. Sure it should be great... But what if employees do choose their attitudes and become "anarchists" in the workplace? Non-adherence to schedules and just basically perform lower than expected for one reason or another? Would it be appropriate for managers to also accept such behaviors since it is the Fish Philosophy? I think they would admire the concept but I highly doubt managers will have the patience to deal with such behaviors. Yes everybody can choose their own attitude to change, but what if not everybody does? It is just too much freedom that is not reciprocal between leaders and employees in the workplace setting which is not realistically and historically democratic.
My point towards the end of this article, was it is better to have people goal-oriented rather than focus on how they would deal with everyone else. Being goal-oriented ensures everybody is on the same page rather than dealing with probabilities or the what-ifs.
I hope you do realize that this is just a mere opinion on how I feel about the Fish Philosophy based on experience and feedback.
Fish Philosophy is soooo baduy! Dont eat the BS.
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