L2 blog

Organizations like fish need to stay fresh. The more fresh the fish, the better they taste and the higher the price. Keeping organizations and companies fresh and innovative is not always easy, especially in the face of success. The Japanese fishing industry was faced with similar challenges several years ago.

The Japanese love their fresh fish. At one point in time the demand for fresh fish outstripped the supply in the nearby waters. The fishermen were forced to build larger boats and to travel farther away from the islands to fill their nets. The farther away they sailed, the longer it took to return home again. The fish they brought back to land were not fresh and the Japanese wouldn’t pay top price for the fishermen's catch.

The fishermen built even larger boats and equipped them with freezers. This allowed them to travel farther and to stay away longer. The Japanese didn’t like the taste of frozen fish and prices fell accordingly.

The fishermen built even larger boats again and added tanks for the fish to swim in while waiting to be brought back to land. Unfortunately, after a few hours of activity the fish became listless and just laid around tail to fin hardly moving at all. Well, needless to say, the Japanese didn’t like the taste of lazy fish.

How Japanese fish stay fresh
So what did the fishermen do? What would you do to keep the fish tasting fresh? The answer isn’t exactly obvious but the solution is incredibly simple.:

The fishermen threw a couple of sharks into the tanks to keep the fish, so to speak on their toes. Nothing like a shark in the water to keep you alert.

The benefits of a challenge
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!

The occasional shark helps too.