Dive Brief:

• Finding creative ways to build workplace collaboration is a challenge, but one California-based tech company has come up with a unique idea to do just that: it is sponsiring a contest to see who can keep a pet fish alive the longest, with a first prize of $5,000.
• This past September, Mobilitie, a privately-held wireless infrastructure provider based in Newport Beach, launched the "Fish Challenge" in its Chicago office.
• The office, which first opened over the summer, wanted to help its 120 workers get to know each other better and start jelling as a team. So it set up the idea that whatever team kept its pet Betta fish (also known as a Siamese Fighting Fish) alive the longest would earn first place.

Dive Insight:

Mobilitie set up the competition by dividing the workforce into 25 teams, with each responsible for one Betta fish. Employees needed to keep their fish alive and well, and also avoid elimination for dirty or poorly decorated bowls (checked weekly). According to the article, players are allowed to "kidnap" other teams' Bettas and request a ransom (under $20) before returning it.

The contest runs through December 2016, when any and all remaining teams will receive a $5,000 prize. "Best decorated" fish bowls also can claim smaller prizes on a random basis.

"Culture is everything," CEO Gary Jabara, who came up with the idea for the Fish Challenge on a flight from the Chicago office back to California, told ChicagoInno. "It's really about everybody getting to know each other and everybody understanding a little bit more about each other. I’ve actually been pretty surprised by the creative juices that have come out of some of the teams."

Sounds like this concept just may hold water from an employee engagement and team building perspective. In fact, Jabara told ChicagoInno he expects to launch Fish Challenges at other Mobilitie offices.