Catch !: A Fishmonger Guide To Greatness

Attitude is an aspect in co-workers that can be influenced more directly that values and emotions. Attitudes, values and emotions all work together to influence workplace behavior, satisfaction, and commitment; furthermore attitude can be positively or negatively influenced to a greater degree than values and emotions. Values and emotions are internal attributes that are shaped within a person over time by their experiences. Attitude is a choice that can be changed. Psalm 188:24 gives us guidance and a choice regarding our attitude: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (ESV).” We are shown that today is from the Lord, it is therefore a good day, and we are encouraged to make a choice to rejoice and be glad.

The Pike Place Fish Market has become “world famous” through their shift in attitude, people come from all over the word to experience the “attitude” of the employees and the customer oriented environment. The Pike Place Fish Market purposefully and intentionally influences the attitude of their employees. In Catch! : A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness, it is explained that “When a new fishmonger is hired, inviting them to learn the mental as well as physical aspects is a much more powerful approach than imposing, or forcing them to commit to, something they may not believe (Laurin, C., & World Famous Pike Place Fish, 2004, p. 23)” Rather than imposing values and emotions on employees, this organization has become “world famous” by affecting the attitudes of their employees. Phillips and Gulley (2014) summarize the four guiding principles at Pike place Fish Market as follows: choose your attitude, make their day, be present, and play. Four seemingly straightforward and simple guidelines that have made a business world

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” When we internalize that we are instructed to do nothing from self ambition, our co-workers will see this reflected in our attitude. A person that works a forty hour work week has a great deal of influence within the lives of their co--workers. Madlock and B00th-Butterfield (2012) point out that co-workers have become a form of surrogate family solely based on the amount of time spent at work; accordingly co-workers inherently influence our attitudes as they are the basis for many of our values and emotions. We do not have control over others emotions and values, we do have control over are reactions to those; our attitude, our reaction to others and situations is under our control. Our perception of job satisfaction is a combination of factors as defined by Phillips and Gully as “the work itself, attitudes, values and personality.” At Pike Place Fish Market, attitude is given as a choice; a decisively positive attitude will by nature impact co-workers as demonstrated.