It's 2025. Do you know where your culture is?

It's 2025. Do you know where your culture is?

Somewhere along the timeline of the Great Shutdown, something small but crucial began to fray. We stopped seeing each other—not just in the now-familiar glow of Zoom screens or among the quiet shuffle of hybrid meetings—but truly seeing each other. What started as a collective moment of pause finally gave way to profound shifts in how we connect, how we lead, and how we work.

Fast forward to today. It’s 2025, and the need to redefine workplace culture has never been more urgent. The future of work isn’t just about cubicles or conference rooms—it’s about connection. As we glance back at a half-decade defined by experimentation and adaptation, one truth stands out: It’s not just about where we work—it’s about how we work together.

Efforts to “Return to Office” might fill desks, but they won’t rebuild workplace joy and connection. That takes something more. That takes intention.

Take a culture checkup here

The Hard Truth: We Don’t Need More Meeting Rooms. We Need More Meaning.

The workplace in 2025 is unrecognizable compared to what it was five years ago, but the core issues we face today remain consistent. Employees are burned out, leadership is tasked with lofty goals of fostering innovation, and teams are stretched thin between managing productivity and staying human.

  • Employees now crave joy and engagement as much as they crave paychecks.
  • Trust—the very foundation of teamwork—continues to be elusive in fractured working environments.
  • Leadership is battling the return-to-office culture challenges of balancing connection and individual performance.

Culture isn’t built on the number of all-hands meetings you can cram into a calendar. It’s built on how much employees want to show up. That means creating a culture rooted in trust, collaboration, and joy.

Why FISH! Philosophy Transforms Workplace Culture

Since its inception, the FISH! Philosophy has been about more than just productivity—it’s been a guide to joyfully transforming human interactions. Inspired by the vibrant energy of Pike Place Fish Market, FISH! reshaped what it means to build team culture. At its core, FISH! is about people rediscovering their love for working with others—and for others.

Imagine teams that thrive because their connections run deep. Whether adapting through hybrid models or leaning into in-person collaboration, FISH! delivers a framework to make culture resilient and joyful.

How to Transform Workplace Culture with FISH!:

  1. By embedding trust through engaged, intentional team dynamics.
  2. Through small but meaningful moments (like recognizing a colleague’s effort) that build emotional connection over time.
  3. By encouraging teams to have fun, unlocking their creativity and productivity.
  4. All of this and more can be sparked by a FISH keynote and workshops. 

The Four Cornerstones of Building a Thriving Team in 2025

At the heart of the FISH! Philosophy are four simple principles:

  1. Choose Your Attitude
    Every day, we get to make a deliberate choice about the vibe and energy we bring to the table. While challenges might be unavoidable, our attitude isn’t. It’s a shift that empowers individuals across roles, from leadership to customer service, to own their positivity.

  2. Be There
    In 2025’s world of hybrid work and complex schedules, presence is a gift. By fully showing up—whether in person, a zoom meeting or a coffee with a colleague—you drive trust and build the foundation of connection by being present.

  3. Make Their Day
    Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Through acts of kindness and recognition, FISH! ensures that positivity isn’t just felt, but it becomes contagious. This ripple effect is a game-changer for teams.

  4. Play
    Fun isn’t frivolous—it’s actually a productivity superpower. Creativity and collaboration skyrocket when teams let themselves enjoy the work they do and the people they’re doing it with.

The simplicity of these principles belies their transformational power. Across industries—from Fortune 500 companies to schools and hospitals—we’ve seen team building and joy emerge as the secret weapons to overcoming even the most challenging workplace issues.

So, Where’s Your Culture Headed?

The future of work—whether remote, hybrid, or in-person—is only as strong as the culture that holds it together. And the organizations thriving in 2025 aren’t the ones with fancy offices or the latest tools. They’re the ones that choose joy, invest in connection, and see people as their greatest competitive advantage.

If you need an injection of Joy in your culture, Schedule a FISH! keynote or workshop today.

To Joy,

John