Dr Stephen Lundin to present his Fish philosophy in Dubai

Right Selection Events, the leader in personal development in the Middle East and organiser of well-known management speaker forums, has announced a one-day seminar with Dr Stephen Lundin on November 1, 2006.

The seminar will be held at the Movenpick Hotel, Dubai.

Dr. Stephen C Lundin will present his highly successful Fish philosophy at the seminar. The philosophy is a global business phenomenon, which has helped many thousands of organisations turn workplace fun and frivolity into serious productivity and organisational achievement.

The Fish philosophy was made famous by Dr Lundin’s film Fish, an award winning documentary about fish-throwing fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle who every day, turn a cold and slippery business into a fun place to work and shop. Renowned for its bustling atmosphere and great customer service, and largely thanks to its committed and satisfied staff, the Pike Place Fish Market is considered to be an outstanding example of how a traditionally difficult work environment can be positively transformed.

Announcing the event, Mr Ram Ganglani, Chief Executive, Right Selection Events said, ‘We continue with our efforts to bring the best known speakers in today’s management world to the region. Dr Stephen Lundin will use the seminar to deliver ideas and skills that could change your workplace and life forever.’

Dr Lundin’s back-to-basics approach emphasises a common sense approach to customer service, workplace morale and personal accountability. At the seminar, he will demonstrate how the philosophy is applied directly to create more energy in the workplace, thereby releasing everyone’s full potential.

Dr Stephen Lundin is the co-author of the best-seller Fish! A Remarkable Way To Boost Morale and Improve Results. With five million sales worldwide, this book has continuously been a Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Business Week business bestseller since it was first published in 2000. The book has been released in 38 languages and has been followed by three successful sequels entitled Fish Tales, Fish Sticks and Fish for Life.

The philosophy of fish

Plato examined the dualism of life and Freud delved into the deviant patterns of man’s psyche. People practice Raj Yoga to calm body and mind and Stephen Covey has presented us with eight habits to make us all more effective.

But rarely has a philosophy of life been based on the practices of a fish market. Until now.

It might sound strange but organisations including Wild Wadi and the American Hospital in Dubai have already started putting the Fish! philosophy into practice. And the Bank of Dubai are ready to open their vaults a chink to get the taste of ‘fish’ inside. Architect and proponent of Fish, Stephen Lundin, tells the City Times a little more.

‘I’ve a fascination for energy and carry many observations of the work places that have none. The Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle had so much life there that people came down from their office buildings at lunch times just to get juiced up to go back to work.’

What really caught Lundin’s imagination was the fishmongers’ behaviour and the way they sell fish. Paraphrasing part of his tale in his book, it runs like this: “One salmon flying away to Minnesota’, cries the fishmonger as the glittering silver fish flies through the air in the direction of the purchaser. ‘One salmon flying away to Minnesota,’ chorus his colleagues.

‘Meanwhile around the corner there’s a guy in white overalls and black wellies moving the jaws of another large fish, pretending it’s talking. Two more are actively having a conversation with a fish they’ve just sold and behind the desk, the cashier’s juggling crabs.’

‘It’s all so simple that people can’t figure it out,’ says Lundin. The Pike Place people have created an experience for others and they think that they can make a difference in the world. Essentially they’ve created a culture that they’ve been able to sustain.’

And the principles are simple. Fish is about having fun in the work place, having a buoyant and cheerful attitude and giving something special to the people around you. The question is, how does Stephen Lundin translate the lessons of the fish market into the grey language of our mundane lives?

‘I don’t translate, I inspire by telling my story. People are provoked by it into trying something and they discover how it works in a mortuary, a nursing home or an insurance company. How it works in Australia, New Zealand or Africa. There are thousands of people now who say: ‘my life is valuable’. If I treat that life as precious it will cause me to want to think about how I live my life. If I live a life that is an honour to life itself it also creates something for the people around me. That’s very special.’

Fish is a different way of working and Lundin is adamant that it cannot be strategic. Try to turn it into a progamme and it becomes lifeless without energy.

‘The minute that happens it loses the element that people want: the customer experience. It works through inspiration, modelling and encouragement.’

As children, we’re able to seamlessly blend work with play but when we are adults we lose that capability. By adopting and promoting the Fish philosophy, we can bring that back into our lives (according to Stephen Lundin).

At Wild Wadi they’re getting there already and our man was seriously impressed. And the key points of Fish?

‘Learning how to be fully alive and authentic at work,’ he says as he holds a chipstick under his nose.