Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
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- ISBN13: 9780312361983
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Most of the denizens of the Antarctic penguin colony sneer at Fred, the silent but observant scout who detects worrying signs that their home, an iceberg, is melting. Fred must cleverly convince and enlist key players, such as Louis, the head penguin; Alice, the number two bird; the intractable NoNo the weather practiced; and a passle of school-age penguins if he is to save the colony.
Their delightfully told journey illuminates in an unforgettable way how to manage the necessary change that surrounds us all. Simple explanatory material following the fable enhances the lasting value of these lessons.
Our Iceberg Is Melting is at once charming, accessible and profound; a treat for virtually any reader.
John Kotter has been on the faculty at Harvard Business School since 1972. He is the leader of eleven award-winning titles and frequently gives speeches and seminars at Harvard and around the world. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Holger Rathgeber spent his early professional career in Asia. He has worked in industry since the early 1990’s and is now with one of the leading medical equipment companies, Bectom Dickinson. Raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Rathgeber currently resides in White Plains, New York.
Our Iceberg is Melting is a simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world. Based on the work of Harvard’s John Kotter, it is a tale that has been used to help many people and organizations.
The fable is about a penguin colony in Antarctica. A group of emperor penguins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home—and pretty much no one listens to him.
The characters in the tale, Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo, are like people we admit—even ourselves. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action; seemingly intractable obstacles; and the most clever tactics for dealing with persons obstacles. It is a tale that is in the works in different forms all around us today—but the penguins handle the very real challenges a fantastic deal better than most of us.
Our Iceberg is Melting is based on pioneering work that shows how Eight Steps produce needed change in any sort of group. It is a tale that can be loved by anyone, while at the same time providing invaluable guidance for a world that just keeps moving quicker and quicker.
“I came across Our Iceberg is Melting in May, ordered and distributed 60 copies in June, evaluated its effect on our change effort, and then ordered 500 more copies in September. This is a gem.”—Heidi King, Program Manager, Department of Defense
“I came across Our Iceberg is Melting in May, ordered and distributed 60 copies in June, evaluated its effect on our change effort, and then ordered 500 more copies in September. This is a gem.”—Heidi King, Program Manager, Department of Defense
“As a result of the book and my sharing it with a few people in the organization, we have stirred quickly on several fronts. We are galvanized to go yet to be as a replacement for of further studying, more organizing and so on. It is building a difference for us.”—Tom Curley, President and CEO, Linked Press
“This is the simplest to read yet most informative book I have ever seen. Setting one of management’s largest challenges,—’What problem, I don’t see a problem,’—in the context of a melting iceberg and a determined penguin, was a stroke of sheer genius.”—Michael Dimelow, Director of Product Marketing, TTP Communications PLC
About the Leader
John Kotter has been on the faculty at Harvard Business School since 1972. He is the leader of eleven award-winning titles and frequently gives speeches and seminars at Harvard and around the world. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Holger Rathgeber spent his early professional career in Asia. He has worked in industry since the early 1990’s and is now with one of the leading medical equipment companies, Bectom Dickinson. Raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Rathgeber currently resides in White Plains, New York.
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There are six main characters in this tale. These six characters make up the leadership team charged with helping the penguins find a solution to their melting iceberg problem. Why is only one of these team members a female? The fable isn’t terrible, and the 8 steps are worth considering, but this 5-1 ratio turned me off from the get-go. Tell me I’m not the only one bothered by this.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
My favorite part of John Kotter’s classic, Leading Change, is the take in image of a penguin leaping across a space between two blocks of ice while 10 additional penguins look on from the side the penguin leaped from. Here is one case where you can tell the book by its take in.
Obviously, that wonderful image penetrated deeply into the consciousness of Holger Rathgeber in crafty this penguin-based version of how a leader might deal with the problem in Who Stirred My Cheese? (changing conditions affect survival)? If you miss that tie to Who Stirred My Cheese? there’s a foreword by Spencer Johnson to make it clearer.
The Emperor Penguins have lived on an iceberg in Antarctica for many years. They plotted to permanently live there. But Fred had a different thought: The iceberg was melting in a way that meant the possibility of a catastrophic collapse in mid-Winter. The rest of the book explores how Fred’s knowledge is translated into useful action for the 268 penguins that lived in the colony.
The fable naturally draws on John Kotter’s legendary eight steps for leading change which I have paraphrased not more than into seven to make them simpler to know:
1. Get peoples’ attention.
2. Set up a change-leading team.
3. Agree on the results you want.
4. Allow needed changes.
5. Show regular progress.
6. Stay all ears.
7. Erect new habits that will serve you well after the change is done.
Fables are hard to write. I admire John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber for taking a crack at it.
But if you pay attention to the facts, you’ll find that their tale doesn’t reasonably make sense. Emperor Penguins live on the pack ice that forms seasonally. As the pack ice retreats, they simply go to the edge. Seldom would they stay on an iceberg. Why? Because the ice breaks up when the youngsters are ancient enough to swim to the main ice pack. If you read science articles, you’ll also learn that what is more likely to threaten a penguin community is that their iceberg drifts into an area where the winter freeze isolates the colony too far from the open sea. The penguins have to walk to the sea rather than dive in to get food.
Also, most icebergs are going to eventually relief into warmer seas and melt that way rather than be split by freezing water as described in this book.
If you look at the leadership, it’s also very male dominated. The tale would be more realistic if it included more male-female interaction.
The problem of survival in the face of the environment seems more akin to what a town council might face in deciding to relocate away from a leaking dam that what a business organization might face.
I could go on, but I’m sure you see the point: A better fable could have been written (even if it had to occupy penguins).
I also compared the book to Leading Change and The Heart of Change. Unless you are only able to learn by reading fables, both of persons books are much better on this theme.
My suggestion is that you let the iceberg melt and read about how people lead as a replacement for in Dr. Kotter’s additional brilliant books.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
This book was entirely too elementary. I was expecting some insight into managing change, not a grade school level tale.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
It was a quick CD. Allows you to reflect outside of the box. Very similar to “Who Stirred My Cheese”, but I liked “Who Stirred My Cheese” better. I would recommend this book/cd.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
This was a simple way of understandng the complexities of a changing market and changing environments. It is geared towards management in larger companies. Entrepreneurs of smaller companies will find it less useful.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5