Book Review "Our Iceberg is melting

A Brief on the Authors:

• John Kotter: Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. His international best seller Leading Change outlines an actionable, eight step process for implementing successful transformation – has become the change bible for managers around the world. He has authored around 17 books on Leadership and change. • Holger Rathgeber: is a Global Manager and works for Beckton Dickinson, one of the worlds leading medical technology companies.

Narrative Style of the book: At a very first glance the book may look very childish, large font size, a little more than a 100 pages, illustrations of penguins communicating with each other. However the authors have drawn the power of good stories to influence behaviour and compel actions. The book is applicable for everybody. We are all affected by changes whether we like it or not, how we respond to those changes determines the outcome, whether we thrive or suffer. Fables can be powerful because they take serious, confusing and threatening subjects and make them clear and approachable. Fables can be memorable, unlike so much of information that bombards us today and is forgotten tomorrow. They stimulate thought, teach lessons and motivate anyone – young or old – to use those lessons.

What stands out: • Simple and Unique book on managing change • Usage of metaphors such as Penguins and Iceberg • Refreshingly readable Format of a Children’s Fable complete with illustrations • Morals & Ideals • Comparisons made to Corporate world • The context of the story uses the most powerful example of climate change.

Central Message of the Story • The story is structured around the 8 Steps to Change which Kotter has proved as the critical factors in the success of change efforts through his book “Leading Change”. • People are more likely to change their behaviour when they feel differently rather than when they think differently. • The idea here is that People will have to feel a strong need or urgency for change and until then the change really does not happen.

Theme of the Story

The story is about a colony of Emperor Penguins who live on an Iceberg which has been their home for years which is melting due to the devastating ecological changes taking place. A lone penguin named Fred, identifies the reason for the melting iceberg due to cracks been formed and water seeping in, which could eventually lead to the iceberg cracking up and all penguins becoming landless. How you will find a way through this problem is what the story is all about. A few years ago, there was a book entitled “Who moved my Cheese”. The book was a great fable about two mice. One thought his piece of cheese would last forever, and never bothered to go and explore and look for new cheese. The other mouse began exploring for new cheese, and creating new opportunities. Now comes a fable written by John Kotter, where one of the penguins in a colony observes that the iceberg that they live on is actually melting, and how he uses an array of tools to convince the town elders, the critics, the masses and doomsayers, naysayers that the iceberg is melting and that new options need to be explored. The characters in this book such as Fred, Alice, Buddy, Louis, No No, etc., are all based on real life characters. Many of them you will quickly recognise from your workplace and day to day life. It doesn’t take you long to realise that this parable deals with issues that we are facing concerning “managing change” in our work and lives as citizens of this planet and working in organizations that also undergo similar transformations which may be reactive, anticipatory or even crisis led.

The Plot

Fred quickly approaches another penguin Alice and they start to form a Leadership Committee by roping in more members. A few things that they do are: – Decide on the number of penguins required in the team – Decide on how frequently they should meet. – Ensure that the entire colony is aware of this crisis Here the plot revolves around Fred and Alice forming a leadership council and how they start to pull together a team of penguins comprising of Buddy, the Professor, Head Penguin Louis and others. On the other side a Pessimistic penguin which keeps mentioning that everything is fine. Change is never an easy thing and this is shown by some of the colony’s hesitation and disagreement, like one leadership council member No No.

The Inspiration

A Seagull soaring through the air – The Idea of Scouts – In Search of New Land and Food Now the group spots a seagull flying through the air. The penguins wonder how seagulls survive cold weather and why are they seen alone. So the seagull lands and tells that his colony is nomadic, and that he is a scout, seeking new land and food ahead of the rest of the group. This brings in a realization to the penguins that “Are we really attached to this iceberg”

The Strategy

The leadership committee decides to arrive at a strategy: – Select another team of penguins to go in search of new lands. These would be called Scouts. – Decide on Starting a new way of life through migration safer than their existing one So with the help of Sally Ann, a kindergartener, Fred and Alice pull together a group of willing penguins to be scouts and go in search of a new iceberg.

Execution of Strategy:

• Scouts go in search of New Iceberg. • Return with Success • Success is Celebrated So the Scouts come back with success and the whole colony has a Tribute to our Heroes day Fair, and soon the colony begins to shift. The new colony has its ups and downs but not as bad as they expected. As the season passes, Penguins moved again and kept living happily as nomads.

Analogies to the corporate world:

This book gives answers to Questions such as – What does one need to do to overcome troubles? – What does change lead to? – Who is a true inspirer? One may find a lot of similarities with Who moved my Cheese? In a similar manner one has to define what the metaphors such as the iceberg, Cracks / caves, Penguins mean to you in your real world. The book certainly gives us answers to many questions that remain unanswered in real corporate world undergoing radical changes. Besides very similar to the penguin characters in the book, you will also find in real world similar such characters.

The Take-away

• As a manager: – Finding it difficult to effect change at any level with their associates. • As a Team Member: – Who struggles to understand how and why change takes place in corporate organizations expected and unexpectedly. • In Summary: – The book provides a quick lesson in Change Management