The FISH! Philosophy®

Our Conversations Are Our Culture

Engaged, innovative employees. Happy, loyal customers. Neither happens by accident — they're built through everyday interactions. FISH! gives your organization the proven, simple framework to make every one of them count.

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The Pines
Verizon
Wicomico Day School
Wilson Learning
Wurzbach Parkway Family Dental
Spacex
Zappos
Actuant Electrical - Acme Electric
Applebees
BlueCare
Aspen Skiing
HP
Nordstrom
Shell
Target
University of Michigan
WD-40
3M
Barnes & Noble
Cerasis
Citizens First Bank
Courtyard By Marriott
Ford
Harley Davidson
Home Depot
Ikea
Jamba Juice
Life Care Center of the South Shore
London Primary School
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
Apple
Hastens
Paramount Studios
North East School District
Northwest Health
Novus Clinic
John Deere
Missouri Realtors
Ottawa County Michigan
Ranken Jordan
Sodexo
Southwest Airlines
Sprint
State of Wisconsin DOT
The Four Practices

These four practices will transform
your organization’s culture.

Simple enough to remember in the middle of a hard day.
Powerful enough to reshape how your entire organization shows up.

Be There

Be emotionally present for the people around you. It’s a gift, and it’s within your power to give it.

IN PRACTICE

  • Put your phone away during conversations and meetings
  • Ask follow-up questions when someone shares something with you
  • Notice when a teammate is struggling before they say anything
  • Maintain intentional eye contact with every customer greeted

It’s not just physical presence — you can be in the room while being mentally somewhere else entirely. Full presence is a choice you make moment to moment.

Play

Tap into your natural way of being creative, enthusiastic, and having fun. Play is not just for kids.

IN PRACTICE

  • Approach problems with curiosity instead of dread
  • Find the humor in a difficult situation without dismissing it
  • Celebrate small wins loudly and often
  • Try the "Silly" or "Crazy" idea even if it might not work

It’s not a distraction from work — play is the engine of creativity. The best breakthroughs happen when people feel safe to experiment.

Make Their Day

Find simple ways to serve or delight the people you encounter. Create unforgettable moments.

IN PRACTICE

  • Recognize a win publicly and specifically
  • Help a colleague with something they didn’t ask about
  • Surprise a customer with something unexpected and personal
  • Compliment someone's choice of style

It’s not grand gestures — the smallest, most thoughtful actions often leave the deepest impressions. Anyone can do this, in any role, every single day.

Choose Your Attitude

Your attitude is the one thing you always have a choice about. Make it a conscious, daily decision.

IN PRACTICE

  • Notice when you’re spiraling and pause before reacting
  • Decide how you want to show up before you walk into a room
  • Model the energy you want your team to have
  • Hold yourself accountable to your own standards, not just others’

It’s not toxic positivity — it’s agency. You can feel what you feel and still choose how you respond. That gap between feeling and action is where culture is made.

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Organizations Transformed
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Years of Proven Results
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Fortune 100 Companies Use FISH!
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Lives Affected By FISH!

Real Transformation Doesn't Sound Like a Case Study. It Sounds Like This...

Todd - Father and Business Owner

Some things in life you cannot choose. Todd knows this better than most. But in the middle of the most devastating chapter of his life, he discovered there was still one thing he had control over — and he held onto it through grief, through depression, through the long work of finding his way back. It didn't fix what was broken. It gave him a way to keep going anyway.

The Cascade High School

Students who transfer into Cascade High School notice something immediately — this place feels different. Kids who've been there their whole lives don't even realize it, because a warm, connected, family-like culture is simply all they've ever known. That's not an accident. It's the result of intentional, daily practice — Play, Choose Your Attitude, and a school-wide belief that climate, culture, and relationships are the foundation for everything else.

Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital

Every organization has people who give everything — and people who have quietly given up. Closing that gap isn't a policy problem or a staffing problem; it's a culture problem. Watch how one healthcare team decided to build a new one, and what the FISH! Philosophy made possible when it became not just a training program, but the lens through which an entire staff started to see their work. The results will change the way you think about what's possible in your own organization.

Summit Elementary School

Some schools implement a culture program. Summit School became one. That's the difference you hear in every voice in this video — from the principal who describes FISH! as simply who she is, to the students who walk up to adults and hand them a small token of appreciation just to say thank you. FISH! didn't arrive as an initiative and leave as a memory; it became the language, the expectation, and the heartbeat of a community where students feel seen, teachers feel trusted, and everyone — even on the hardest days — knows how to choose what comes next.

The FISH! Framework

A Simple Path to Lasting Culture Change

No complex implementation.
Just an easy-to-follow process that is built around how we as real humans learn.

1

Invitation & Alignment

Each facilitation starts with breaking down defensiveness with an introduction and invitation while providing context that helps get everyone on the same page.

2

Sharing the Story

Participants see the FISH! Philosophy in action by watching the accompanying videos together, giving everyone a common experience.

3

Make It Meaningful
(To You)

Through facilitated dialogue, the group works out the meaning of the video and lessons together — tailored to your unique organization and team.

4

Walk The Walk

Your group moves from cognitive absorption to an embodied experience by participating in hands-on activities.

5

Action Planning
& Commitment

Each session ends by asking participants what they will do differently, then setting up the next opportunity to reflect on whether they did it.

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Real Results

What Leaders Are Saying

“FISH! is one of the best films I've ever seen on working and relating to people.”

WL
Will Leinicke
Illinois Professional Development Partnership

“I can tell unequivocally that we would not be where we are today without FISH! This is the best money I've ever spent as a CEO of a hospital.”

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Susan Davis
CEO — Carolina Specialty Hospital

“Everyone, when they are hired here, gets a copy of the book, FISH!, and a Pete the Perch... For me, I knew that it was going to be the source of my morale. It is a challenge in our industry, at this time, to maintain your morale, but we all inspire one another. FISH! is the blueprint for our attitude.”

AI
Adam Ipatzi
Realtor — Prudential California Realty

“Fish is so much fun to watch, and the message is so important to hear, that I carry it with me wherever I go.”

KB
Ken Blanchard
Coauthor of The One Minute Manager

“The FISH! Philosophy is a natural fit for how we think and what our value systems are. The more we incorporate the FISH! philosophy into what we do, the better job we do and the better our patients do.”

NH
Dr. Nick Holekamp
Medical Director — Ranken Jordan Hospital

“The program built around the FISH! Philosophy is the most successful customer service effort we've ever had.”

DG
Donna Goings
Parkview Health System

“FISH! has become a key part of how we do business and we'll never go back. Our profits are up, our customer satisfaction has improved and we're having a lot of fun. FISH! has a lot to do with all those things. The return on investment has been tenfold over just the impact on our bottom line.”

MR
Mark Ruffalo
President — California Harley-Davidson/Buell
The FISH! Effect

Happiness and Fulfillment Are Contagious

The energy someone brings to work doesn't stay at their desk — it spreads to every customer, every colleague, every new hire watching how people treat each other.

FISH! Philosophy gives organizations a way to channel that intentionally. The four practices — Be There, Play, Make Their Day, Choose Your Attitude — aren't abstract management concepts. They're the basics of how good people treat other people. Simple enough to teach in a morning. Meaningful enough to carry home.

That's why FISH! works in healthcare and retail and education and customer service and every other context where human beings work together. The industry changes. The principles don't.

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How We Help

Many Ways to Experience FISH!

Whether you’re exploring for the first time or ready for an
organization-wide cultural overhaul, there's a path fit for you!

The FISH! Philosophy Book
Start Here

Read the FISH! Philosophy Book

The bestselling business fable that has sparked a worldwide culture movement. Written for leadership teams, HR departments, and anyone ready to transform how work feels — this short, powerful read can shift the mindset of an entire organization in a single afternoon.

Widely used as the launchpad for FISH! implementations, the book gives your team a shared foundation and a common language before the training even begins. Ideal for all-staff book clubs, new-hire onboarding, and leadership reading programs.

  • Shift team mindset from "have to" to "get to"
  • Strengthen relationships at work and at home
  • Ignite natural energy and passion for service
  • Energize disengaged teams
  • Create an environment of trust
CLAIM YOUR FREE COPY →
FISH! Self-Paced Guided Programs
Most Popular

Self-Paced Guided Programs

Your organization’s complete FISH! training toolkit, available 24/7 through a private online portal. You'll have access to video training (INCLUDING the famous FISH! Film), expansion materials, editable PowerPoints, audio companions, digital downloads, and more.

This is not just for HR and management. Anyone who wants to run powerful culture training on their own schedule, at their own pace can do so! Licensed per end-user organization — run as many sessions as you need, for as many employees as you have.

  • The Famous FISH! Film + 5 programs covering culture, leadership, and teamwork
  • No facilitator certification or prior experience required
  • Org-wide license — unlimited sessions, unlimited employees
  • Intranet-compatible
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World-Class Live Events

Bring the FISH! Energy
Into Your Organization

Our speakers have delivered powerful keynotes, workshops, and leadership experiences for organizations across every industry. Every engagement is custom-built around your culture challenges, your team, and your goals — not a canned presentation.

  • Keynotes, half-day, and full-day leadership workshops
  • Custom-tailored to your industry, culture, and audience
  • Available worldwide
  • Trusted by Fortune 500s, healthcare systems & government agencies
  • Post-event resources included to sustain the impact
Book a Speaker →
Ready When You Are

Where do you want to start?

One book sparks the conversation. One program builds the culture.
Choose your path.

Get the Book → Explore Programs →