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The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

The last week of the year – the one that spans from Christmas day until New Year’s – has quietly built a real reputation in our culture. Nobody announces it out loud, but many of us feel the same way: for those of us who aren’t already taking it off entirely, it often has the sense of being “lost.” Normal standing commitments fall by the wayside, half our emails get out-of-office auto-replies, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember what day of the week it is. But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

Educators everywhere are using the FISH! Philosophy to better connect students with their classrooms and their communities, so it’s no small wonder that these skilled and empathetic professionals have a lot to teach us about applying the FISH! mindset day in and day out. The best part is that these lessons are universally applicable – you don’t need to be an educator or even work with children to apply them every day and make your workplace a more functional, more pleasant place to spend such a significant portion of your life. So just what can teachers teach us about the FISH! Philosophy?

The world is a chaotic place, and far too often our attention is split into a million directions at once. For many of us, simply maintaining focus is a task all unto itself, and is a skill we want to consciously practice and develop in order to perform to the best of our abilities in the workplace. So how can the FISH! Philosophy help us build and maintain focus in the workplace? It may not seem like the 4 Pillars of FISH! directly relate to this very internal skill, but the truth is each and every one has a place in helping us focus at work.

If you’re reading this, you probably already understand that the FISH! Philosophy is a powerful tool for building an organizational culture that inspires workers at all levels to come together, stick around, and produce the best output they can. However, building a positive and productive organizational culture doesn’t start with existing employees; it starts from the moment someone applies to be a part of your organization. Many places place an emphasis on “culture fit” when hiring, but that can be more regressive than intended – all too often, hiring for “culture fit” results in organizations that are cliquish or reinforce existing internal inequities. That’s where we come back around to FISH!. The FISH! Philosophy isn’t just for your team that’s already in place; it can be integrated into your hiring process to help share the values your organization promotes while giving applicants a sense of what it would be like to work with you. Here are ways you can bring the core pillars of FISH! into your hiring process.

Turnover is always a challenge with any organization – people leave workplaces all the time, and it’s almost always harder and more expensive to replace someone than to keep them around. So how can you use the FISH! Philosophy to reduce your turnover going into 2024? Well, we can start by setting goals. If you think about it, setting goals is really just a long-term way of practicing Choose Your Attitude: you’re making a decision about how you as an organization want to present yourself and what you want to achieve, and working towards that goal even in moments when your emotions may tell you otherwise. So what sorts of goals can you set for your team to help keep them happy, healthy, and hanging around in 2024?