A few weeks ago we were asked to look after the class fish\u00a0during the half-term school holiday. Easy enough, just feed it daily and change the water when\u00a0it gets murky was\u00a0our handed-down knowledge of fish-management.\u00a0 So when we observed\u00a0the\u00a0fish swimming\u00a0at the surface apparently gulping air,\u00a0even our limited\u00a0grasp of fish-biology\u00a0suggested that something was not\u00a0quite right.\u00a0 After a short\u00a0web-surf our\u00a0anxiety was confirmed: our fish was exhibiting\u00a0high stress behaviour – it was being poisoned by\u00a0toxic waste – the waste it makes itself.\u00a0 We learned that a fish-tank is a delicate and complex eco-system.\u00a0\u00a0Too big a fish in too small a tank, over-feeding, stagnation\u00a0and infrequent complete water changes with toxic (chlorinated) tap-water are the\u00a0commonest ways\u00a0we upset this delicate balance.\u00a0We were\u00a0unintentionally\u00a0killing the fish!\u00a0The remedy was\u00a0obvious: we had to learn about fish and learn how to maintain the fish-tank-eco-system.\u00a0And fast!\u00a0The fish was delivered back to school in a much bigger tank, complete with light, filter, pump, and the output of our learning –\u00a0written instructions.\u00a0The reaction was: “Wow!\u00a0We can’t believe this is the same fish. It looks and behaves completely differently. It looks happy”.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0life-lesson reminded me of a\u00a0book that\u00a0I read some years ago called “Fish!” which\u00a0involves the Pike Place Fish\u00a0Market in Seattle and a story of how the fish-mongers inspired others to dramatically improve their own toxic work places.\u00a0 The\u00a0message in the story is that\u00a0we all\u00a0swim in the emotional toxic waste that we ourselves create; each of us has the choice to commit to reducing our toxic emotional waste emissions; we can contract to hold each other to account on this commitment; and collectively we have the power to\u00a0drain\u00a0our\u00a0own\u00a0toxic emotional waste swamps. This led to an “eureka” moment: Improvement can not happen in a toxic emotional environment.\u00a0So\u00a0how do we know we have one? What are the\u00a0symptoms and signs?\u00a0With this insight I believe we can\u00a0answer that question by just looking and listening.<\/p>\n
And if you fancy\u00a0a\u00a0diet\u00a0of near-pure\u00a0toxic emotional waste\u00a0all you have to do is\u00a0read a daily newspaper. Yeuk!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few weeks ago we were asked to look after the class fish\u00a0during the half-term school holiday. Easy enough, just feed it daily and change the water when\u00a0it gets murky was\u00a0our handed-down knowledge of fish-management.\u00a0 So when we observed\u00a0the\u00a0fish swimming\u00a0at the surface apparently gulping air,\u00a0even our limited\u00a0grasp of fish-biology\u00a0suggested that something was not\u00a0quite right.\u00a0 After … <\/p>\n