Inspired By Tragedy, Fishbowl Leaders Walk Their Talk

Inspired By Tragedy, Fishbowl Leaders Walk Their Talk – When I went into the fish tank to take inventory, I immediately noticed something unusual in the office: happy people. The reception area has ping-pong tables and foosball tables, each of which is occupied by employees who are passionately committed to the game (although table tennis players will obviously not compete for a seat on the Olympic tennis team of table in the short term).

I’m interested in visiting Fishbowl run by former colleagues and friends and Forbes contributor David K. Williams, who has written recommendations on developing a “no-exit strategy” and encouraging employees to stay with the company for a long time. And what he called “7 non-negotiable commodities.” Fishbowl President Dave and Mary Michelle Scott reinvented management discipline.


Fishbowl CEO Dave Williams working on fishbowl service day

David Williams Mary showed me a tour of the office and we interrupted a fierce game – At the ceremony held at 3:00 pm by technical staff from the newly established development team, the vice president of technology acted as coder. Each day’s competition is the game that different team members choose to play every day, and it is an official part of the Fishbowl team building process.

As we continued the tour, Mary explained that she and Dave believed that “happy employees will make happy products.” They adopted a fishbowl-style agile development method – the central premise is the assumption that everyone is doing their best. This attitude encourages people to do their best, to clearly accept the occurrence of errors and to respect the efforts that caused them.



Dave Williams, Chris, and Mary Michelle Scott really believe this.

Mary and Dave set out to continually strengthen their faith in the team. They trust them. Mary said, “Dave, I can’t do anything. We started it and handed it over to the team because they’ll be better.”

Many of its employees are young graduates of Utah Valley University. Although the school is a good institution, even in the relatively small state of Utah, the only truly distinctive feature of the university is its size. Its student population makes it the largest school in the state. None of the employees was featured as an Ivy League graduate. However, the company is growing rapidly and achieving profitability. Fishbowl gets the most benefit from its employees.

My main interest in visiting Fishbowl is learning about their Courage Above Mountains Foundation (CAM Foundation), which is named after Dave’s late son, Cameron, one of Fishbowl’s early employees. Cameron was ill for 18 months and was later diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. This diagnosis is rare among people your age and has not been widely considered until recently. Although the doctor recommended palliative care when making the diagnosis, the Mormon religious family decided to fight for their lives. Combining faith and prayer with all available treatments, they extended Cameron’s life by six months.

After Cam’s death, it was Mary who challenged Dave to refocus on getting things done before joining the fishbowl, creating a legacy on Cameron’s behalf. Dave invited Mary to join the Fish Tank and helped him create and manage the “Mountain Courage” Foundation. Mary officially joined the Fish Tank in January 2011.

Dave Williams drives the “Bicycle” charity bike race, my reason.

Ask Dave and Mary to ask them to describe the mission of the CAM Foundation. They just want to do everything they can to use existing resources to make the world a better place. The CAM center is comprised primarily of the remaining space in the Fishbowl office. The company recently donated 22 computers to the Navajo Nation through the foundation. Neither Mary nor Dave asked the team to do this, but one day Mary discovered that the company’s engineers were using their daily playtime to repair old computers, clean hard drives, and restore them to their best condition.

Mary and John Erickson, vice president of training, recently wrote an article about how deadly fear is in the office. No one in the tank is afraid. At some companies, re-donating old computers can be distracting (or worse), but at Fishbowl no permission is required, just praise.

Dave confirmed his view that serving 24 hours a day will stimulate employee interest: “They are better people – when I got to the fishbowl I was officially greeted by one of the most sincere people I met.

Marilyn Bigney is a receptionist for the fishbowl “, but unlike any receptionist I’ve ever seen. She is not some dummy in her twenties or the aggressive middle-aged police dog you expected.

It turns out that Marilyn has a story. She was laid off in 2009 and was eager for new opportunities in 2010. Thanks to the joint efforts of Utah Valley University, a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the CAM Foundation, she participated in the free class. There, he received training, met some people from the fish tanks, and finally accepted an interview to become a fish tank receptionist. Now, she does this job with the feminine enthusiasm of a cheerleader and the demeanor of an international diplomat.

The CAM Foundation provides services to almost anyone in needy communities. Many of the people who get help at the CAM center are young people who are desperately trying to master a technical skill, like learning to use Quickbooks, to get a decent job. Some are older people who are essentially defeated by technology. Dave is proud that seniors who have completed training (often difficult for them) find their “shaky” and passion for life simply because they have caught up with the information age.

The Fish Tank does not require employees to provide services through the CAM Foundation. They get the same credibility for participating in Boy Scouts or any other community service. However, Dave noted that many employees are happy to have the opportunity to participate through the CAM Foundation because it is convenient. Due to the lack of the CAM Foundation, many employees involved will not provide community services because they do not know where or how to participate.

Leaders often speak of the need to respect and treat others well. I’ve never seen people like Mary and Dave from Fishbowl speak.