Book Review: Our Iceberg Is Melting

Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

John Kotter and has produced a great book that contains a wealth of wisdom and insight. While it looks and reads like a simple book, it is anything but simple. The message which Kotter is able to make clear goes much deeper than the surface story of a colony of penguins in search of answers pertaining to their survival on an iceberg. He easily describes a scenario through a penguin colony that any person can relate to and think about in a more in-depth manner.

The fable is entertaining and interesting and deals with how a penguin colony deals with change that has become inevitable if they are to survive. The story revolves around a penguin colony in Antarctica living on an iceberg. The iceberg has developed cracks through which sea water has seeped in and collected inside cavities deep within the iceberg. This obviously is threatening to the penguin's colony and current living situation. The problem with the iceberg is found by a penguin named Fred who conveys the information to his boss, Alice. Alice informs her superior Louis who calls a meeting of the other Leadership Council heads. How the colony of penguins headed by Louis manages to save themselves from a possible collapse of the iceberg is by using the eight steps of change presented by the author.

The main idea of the fable is in observing the different types of penguins, how they respond to the crisis and the various dynamics among them. The storyline is so simple, yet so deep, that it will capture your interest and keep it. The book takes the penguin characters and gives them the personalities that you would expect to come across in the business world everyday. Kotter did not leave many personalities out; I could imagine actual people I know in some of the roles of each penguin. There is one that does not listen very well - This could unfortunately be any co-worker or even your boss. There is one older penguin who is resistant to change, and if you think to the upper management of many companies, there might very well be a person who has been in the workforce for many years who is comfortable with how things are run, even if there is a better way today. The personality that stands out the most feels that even though he is not in a powerful position, his discoveries should be brought to the attention of the head penguin and the leadership council. While this all may sound somewhat silly, the message is the same as if you were speaking of people in business. Have you ever noticed anything in your job that should have been brought to the attention of upper management? Did you have the self-confidence or support to feel that you could? What happened if you did?

What happens in Kotter's fable is the process of change management and he speaks through the penguin characters on how to deal with these changes. The eight steps for managing change according to the author are:

1) Creating a sense of urgency to deal with the difficult problem

2) Forming a committee to handle change

3) Explaining the vision and the necessity for the change

4) Design a plan of action

5) Showing some results in the short-term

6) Clearing obstacles along the way

7) Empowering everyone concerned

8) Persisting with change

Through the