What is Our Iceberg Is Melting all about?
We all love listening to stories, don't we? We love to narrate stories too. Gossips are narrations. They are interesting and that's why they spread so rapidly - management gurus call this viral. Most of the management gurus seem to have come to a conclusion that narrating a story is the best way to convey ideas and make them stick.
Our Iceberg Is Melting is a management fable. It is a fable about 'Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions.'
Our Iceberg Is Melting is written by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber. John Kotter is considered an authority on Leadership and Change Management.
Picture courtesy: Jaylopez
Our Iceberg is Melting - Central Theme
The fable is set in Antarctica. The story is about a colony of Emperor Penguins whose habitat is threatened by melting iceberg. The main protagonist is a penguin called Fred who is of scientific bend of mind and has observed signs of the iceberg melting. The story is about how Fred goes about to, first, make a colony of disbelieving penguins aware of the impending danger, find a solution and make the necessary changes to steer clear of the present danger and future ones.
He, of course, does not do it alone. The penguins form a team consisting of, well, penguins:
A leader, who is experienced and wise
A deputy, who is practical and gets things done
Other members, who are trusted, creative and logical.
The fable is all about how to make successful change. The fable takes you through the eight step process of successful change. The major steps being:
Set the Stage
Decide What to Do
Make it Happen
Make it Stick
Additional Resources
http://www.ouricebergismelting.com
Tools for making change happen.
From the Book
As far back as the penguins could remember, they had always lived on that iceberg. "This is our home." they would tell you if you could ever find their world of ice and snow. They would also say, quite logically from their perspective, "and this will always be our home."
Our Iceberg Is Melting - Rating and Recommendation
Style: As fables go, nice, pacy story. Quick and easy read. Lots of pictures to give you that fable feel.
Knowledge content: Builds on existing knowledge. If you read management books most of it is more of less known.
Applicability: Immense. The 8 step process is well laid out by the story. The stickiness factor is huge and will help you in personal and professional life.
Recommendation: Delightful little book. Read it. You kids will also like to read it.
From the book
"This junior bird says melting ice has opened the canal. But maybe it hasn't. He says the canal will freeze this winter and trap the water in a big cave. But maybe it won't! He says freezing water always expands in volume. But maybe he's wrong! And even if all he says turns out to be true, is our iceberg so fragile that freezing water in a cave can break it into dangerous small pieces? How do we know what he says is not just - a theory? Wild speculation? Fearmongering?!"
Buy it here
Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 12/26/2009) 
Or perhaps you will like these
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From the book
Although Louis never said so explicitly in his telling of the story, he felt the most remarkable change of all was in how so many members of the colony had grown less afraid of change, were learning the specific steps needed to make any large adjustment to new circumstances, and worked well together to keep leaping into a better and better future.
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Have you read the book? What do you think?
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Reply
- ftuley ftuley Jun 17, 2009 @ 11:13 am
- Very very interesting, thanks so much for sharing with us. 5 Stars!
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Reply
- jdove jdove Apr 15, 2009 @ 4:47 am
- Insightful, useful, powerful - if you think about it. Thank you.
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