A remarkable way to boost morale and improve results.
By: Stephen C. Lundin,PH.D., Harry Paul, and John Christenson
Submitted on September 13, 2013
Amber Keller

http://video.about.com/seattle/Pike-Place-Market-in-Seattle.htm



This book presents itself as a fictional story of a woman and her family. Mary Jane and Dan move to Seattle and begin flourishing careers in which they are immersed in. The family is a well rounded unit that enjoys spending time together on weekends with a parental unit that is deeply and madly in love.
Sadly, the father becomes ill and dies. This leaves the mother,
Mary Jane, with two elementary age children in a new city with a new position to fend for family alone.





Mary Jane works at a financial institution as a manager and is well love, liked, and appreciated on her current floor.
Her staff is flourishing and enjoyable to not only work with but their productivity is high as well. The VP of the company attributes this to Mary Jane.
Therefore, She is being relocated to the 3 rd floor of the institution which is known as the “toxic waste floor”.
Words such as unresponsive, entitlement, zombie, unpleasant, slow and wasteland are often used to describe the staff and productivity of the 3 rd floor.





This particular floor has had 3 managers come and go within the last two years and Mary Jane is taken aback by the abrasiveness of not only her new co-workers but also her new boss Bob.
On a lunch hour, she wonders the streets of Seattle, outside her office, and ends up and the Pike Place Fish market.
She watches in amazement as fish fly across the market, laughter fills the air, and customers are sucked into the energy presented by the staff.
She then ponders on HOW this energy could be honed and transferred to her current situation.



Lonnie, an employee of the fish market, notices Mary Jane and offers to help her learn the method of madness behind the “World Famous Fish Market”
Mary begins meeting with Lonnie and journaling his thoughts and leadership skills as well as the key concepts behind the fish market.





The first KEY CONCEPT to the Fish market is Attitude is key!
You determine how your day will be regardless of the workload, customer behavior, or atmosphere of those around you!
Mary Jane holds two staff meetings, in which, she proposes this concept to them!
The staff has a few questions, but then quickly accepts the attitude is key method.
To prove this to her an anonymous employee creates a giant sign that states, “ YOU DETERMIINE YOUR ATTITUDE!” proceeded by two faces one smiling and one with a grimace. This sign is the first thing an employee sees as he/she steps off the elevator onto the 3 rd floor.



 The next concept conveyed to Mary Jane is….

While work can be a tedious place to go to it can also be a place of laughter, enjoyment and ….FUN!
The Pike Place Fish Market is full of nasty, grimy, smelly fish that are shipped in and out daily, scaled, and cleaned, yet the staff makes it seem as if it’s the most wonderful place to work at everyday!





Lonnie states that each employee tries to make each customers day in one way or another.
Going out of ones way to assist a customer
Engaging customers and welcoming them to join into the fun
By focusing your attention on ways to make another person’s day provides a constant flow of positive feelings.




Be fully engaged in your work
Be present for the workload and for others in your area
At this point in the book, Mary Jane takes her entire floor, in two shifts, to see the action at the fish market. Her staff is instantly taken aback and a little uneasy until one of the employees has one of the bankers catch a fish thrown from across the store, in which, she drops twice but catches on the third try.

By following the steps:
 Choose your attitude


Play
Make their day
 Be Present
Mary Jane was able to set the “third floor toxic waste” on a tailspin of success. The morale and productivity increase and became the buzz of the financial institution.