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How It Began

How It All Began

By Stephen C. Lundin, Big Tuna Ph.D.

In my late teens and early 20s I worked at a summer camp that served children with severe physical challenges. It was appropriately called Camp Courage. Every two weeks 100 campers would arrive for a camp experience that the 24 counselors and other staff would make as realistic as possible with overnights, cookouts, nature, crafts and of course, swimming.

When you are 17 you don't have a lot of history to serve as a frame of reference for your experiences. Only later do you understand your experiences in a larger context. The six summers I spent at Camp Courage, working my way from junior counselor to camp director were satisfying and enjoyable at the time, but many years passed before I became aware of the profound impact Camp Courage had on my life.

As I moved through positions titled National Marketing Director, Presidential Exchange Fellow, Executive VP of Consulting, and Business School Dean and visited hundreds of work settings, I couldn't help but notice that Camp Courage remained number one in terms of energy, fun and simple joy. In fact some of the places I visited could only be described as "toxic energy dumps." I began to wonder if there was something about modern organizations that make a high quality work life unattainable. I began searching for an image to help me understand what was possible at work.

The Market

On a cold damp Saturday in January, John Christensen, my colleague and fellow filmmaker, and I had just finished a film shoot on Whidby Island with the poet David Whyte. We were full to the brim with his inspirational poetry and prose about the possibilities each of us have for a wholehearted and joyous work life.

I flew home; John who needed to stay another day to get a lower airfare decided to see the sights of downtown Seattle. And so it was as a tourist that John walked into Seattle's Pike Place Market. What he encountered that day was the most wholehearted and energetic workplace he had ever experienced; The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market. I will never forget the excitement in his voice when he called that night. "I found it," he said. "You won't believe it. This place rocks with energy."

A best-selling film and four best-selling books later (all with FISH!® in the title of course) later, we have come to realize how deeply the work world longed for an image of a place where fun, joy, energy, productivity and incredible teamwork, drive out stress, boredom, toxic energy and burnout. By bottling The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market we unsuspectingly released a powerful message. The message came in the form of an image of how work could be for any one of us. Each of us has our own personal version of a wholehearted workplace and it can be as close as a few choices away.