Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

I know that I should like this book and give it a good review but I didn't and I can't.

I think I would have preferred Kotter's original book about change management without all the animal nonsense that is in this.

This is the kind of book a manager goes out and buys for all their staff and says "Read this! It won't take you long. You'll have it finished by this afternoon/tonight!" And they'd be correct. It doesn't take long to read at all. So for goodness sake read it and have a discussion with me if you will.

I just object to the use of "dumbing-down" or sugar-coating management speak. The analogy for me is lame (OMG I'm using teenager type words - it must have really touched a sensitive nerve in me!)

What we're talking about here is show more change-management. In this "picture book for grown ups" we're presented with a fable about a group of penguins who are sitting on a melting iceberg. Where can they go? Will they listen to the wise lone penguin voice in the wilderness who says they have to go, when it would be so much more comfortable to stay (and all drown and witness their kids dying?????)

Let's forget about the fact that penguins can swim. Let's forget about the fact that penguins can't talk. Just humour me for a second. If you are willing to suspend disbelief and go along with penguins being as silly as humans, then you would understand why I have a fundamental problem with this tale. It just doesn't ring true. Maybe I am too cynical. Maybe I am reading this too literally. I don't think so. I don't think I am like the very subtly (deep cynicism here folks) named "NoNo" character in the book.

I just hate being spoken to as if I am a 3rd-grader. In this book we are to believe that all the penguins, if they cooperate and pull-together will re-locate to a better iceberg - every five years.

Oh puhleeeeeezzzzz. Anyone who has been through change knows that not all the penguins get to go......and it's never another better iceberg. Animal Farm would be a better read at this point I think....a better iceberg for some.

I'm not saying I object to change. I just wish someone would call it like it is for once. Be honest. Tell it like it is. Acknowledge that there will be collateral damage for the sake of the survival of the fittest and all that.

What do you think? Am I a "NoNo". Should I read Kotter's other book? show less

This book was recommended and later mandatory to read in our class "Management Strategy" which sounds a little bit posh, but I guess the teacher is all that matters, and it was a hell of a teacher!
This one is the one where at any age you can read it. Well...like from age 9 or smth tho. It is a fable but when you stop for a moment for thinking there is always more depth to it, and if you will make notes from this book, it is really easy to remember in your daily life through relatable and memorable people (read penguins). Yes, it is a book about penguins and it...just...awesome and crazy and the author knows it, which makes it even more fun to read.
I would categorize this book into lists if you need refreshments about managing tasks show more when you are working in a team or a group environment with people, doesn't matter if you leading or not. i say if you need refreshment because I will probably read it once more. show less

I have two clients in a shifting online space who've both bought this book for their entire teams. It's a fanciful parable about a colony of penguins living in happy denial on an iceberg. When a member of the colony discovers the berg is -- you guessed it -- melting, it becomes a discussion of organizational and individual response to change. Having listened to Harvard Business School professor John Kotter lecture (via acetate sheets on an overhead projector, no less!), it was a little jarring to see his message dressed up as a children's book. But it is effective nonetheless. What I haven't heard yet is how much momentum the book has created for effective change management in the organizations that embrace it. But who doesn't like show more penguins? show less

I'm not sure what to say about this book. We were given copies of this book by our management team at work in connection with a pending divisional restructure. I think the book was intended to help us adapt to change but I don't really see a parallel between the fabricated and factually flawed fable of penguins on a melting iceberg and what we are facing at work.

The author actually did a good job of covering known facts about Emperor Penguins (e.g. their diving depth, lung capacity, and reliance on numbers for warmth) but he neglected one crucial fact that destroys the premise of his fable. Emperor Penguins are already nomadic; migrating up to 280 km each year to breed. (As found on this website of penguin facts: show more target="_top">http://bit.ly/HE7qQq)

Kotter should have also consulted the facts about icebergs. The average life cycle of an iceberg is 3 to 6 years. Given that this species of penguin reaches breeding age at around four years of age, mature penguins wouldn't really have the concept of a long-term or permanent home on such a temporary structure. (As found on the HowStuffWorks website: http://bit.ly/Hy6Cfb)

That being said, we can proceed as if the tenants of the story are factually based and there is a population of Emperor Penguins who have always lived on the same iceberg and never migrate. Now that iceberg is "melting" (actually, the threat of breaking apart at fault lines would pose the more imminent threat) and the penguins need to agree first on what is happening and then on a course of action.

I certainly didn't like the penguin named NoNo (the naysayer) but I also didn't like one of the apparent heroes (or in this case heroine). Alice was portrayed as the aggressive, go-getter on the council who made things happen. By the end of the story, it becomes clear that without Alice the "new vision" would never have been realized. However, she is impatient and rude; habitually cutting off the professor and not willing to hear his lengthy explanations or theories. She was a fear-monger who sold the concepts of imminent danger and immediate threat to scare people into action. Alice also mounted a propaganda campaign and quickly moved to shut down dissension in the ranks.

I also find it interesting that the author did a "bait and switch" in the story. From the outset, we had a group of complacent penguins who have to deal with the danger of a melting, cracking iceberg (which by the way, was never demonstrated or validated in the story). By the end of the story, the penguins found a safe and suitable replacement habitat but were constantly looking for a better one each year; having developed a group who thrives on constant change.

As a side note, I did not appreciate the misuse of the word "skeptical" in this story. Skeptics were portrayed as doubter and naysayers but that is not an accurate use of the word. When a person is skeptical, they follow wherever the evidence leads. As quoted on the etymology dictionary website, "Skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found." [Miguel de Unamuno, 'Essays and Soliloquies,' 1924]. (As found online at http://bit.ly/Hy7PEz) A more appropriate word in this story would have been either "dogmatist" or "denier".

In the end, I don't think this story is an accurate reflection of what we are facing at work and I would have appreciated more serious and more scholarly books on the subject. The best thing about Kotter's book was that it was short and easy to read but that was also its downfall. This is the kind of book that you might give to people who are uneducated, ignorant, and not very literate.

I have no doubt that there are books that better deal with the issues of globalization, outsourcing, and restructuring. I will try to find and read some of those and would also welcome any recommendations. I would prefer material that is not dumbed down to the masses and ideally, that would be backed with reliable research and data. show less

What a wonderful illustration of the power of story-telling. The authors use a parable about a colony of penguins who discover that their home is melting to illustrate how to lead and manage change within an organization. Easy to read, and written in a way that the messages are bound to stay with you. As a bonus, it is beautifully illustrated.

A fun and interesting fable using the story of a colony of Emperor Penguins as a metaphor for how an organization can go about making a needed change.

I enjoy business books in general, but among my favorites are the "story"-based books, such "The One-Minute Manager", "Who Moved My Cheese", "Inside the Magic Kingdom", "The Go-Giver", "It's Not About You", and others. These books take complex and sometimes fear-inducing subjects (like change) and present them in friendly ways to help readers understand how they can deal with them in their business and personal lives.

The focus of this book is leading change, and is based on John Kotter's "8 Steps to Leading Change" originally outlined in his book "Leading Change". The use of the penguin show more fable allows the authors to present these steps in the context of a story that illustrates how the steps work together in enabling the penguins to make a significant change in their lives.

I recommend this book to anyone involved in leading any sort of change, whether it be in your business, a local organization, your church, or even your personal life. show less

A well written book on change. The plot is interesting and of course the way it is written from the eyes and words of penguins (fictionally) is amazing.