Organizational Culture at the Pike Place Fish Market

In my opinion, having a strong organizational culture is essential to creating a successful organization.  When a company has a strong culture, employees enjoy being at work because they are motivated not only by extrinsic factors such as money, but by intrinsic factors as well.  An example of an organization with a phenomenal culture is the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.  If you have ever been to see the Pike Place Fish Market in the past twenty years, you undoubtedly know the unique energy and enthusiasm projected by employees every single day.  From crew order calls to throwing fish with each other as well as with customers, the owner, John Yokoyama and his employees have built a set of values and assumptions that work for them.  However, it has not always been like this.  Initially the fish market was a rough place to work that employed mostly ex-convicts and drug addicts.  Back then, the owner, John Yokoyama, did not understand the importance of a culture or spirit within his organization.  Eventually, after nearly going bankrupt in the spring of 1986, John was introduced to Jim Bergquist, the owner of a company who offered business coaching.  With Jim’s help, John has been able to turn the fish market into an enjoyable place to work with enthusiastic employees who love what they do.

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