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Loading... Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions (original 2006; edition 2006)by John Kotter
Work InformationOur Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions by John Kotter (2006)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter follows the fable based business and self help genre books like those by Spencer Johnson. This one I did not find as entertaining. The theme itself is about change and the fable involves a community of Emporer penguins and how they need to implement and embrace change to move off their iceberg. It's a very short book but really it can be all summed up in the last 3 pages on the 8 step process to implement successful change. If you like these type of simple fable based books then you may want to give it a read.
As I have had a little bit of downtime in my first couple weeks here at Pearson I have used my time to abide by Pearson’s motto, always learning, and I have successfully completed my first book. The book I choose to read was a short fable called “Our Iceberg is Melting, changing and succeeding under any conditions” by John Kotter. The book told the story of a penguin named Fred who noticed that the iceberg his penguin colony was living on had some serious melting problems. Fred was not part of the highest penguin counsel and by some, was not taken seriously in his finding. The book goes on about the leadership and change strategies that were used by Fred, Alice, and Louis to successfully change the traditions of the colony and move everyone to safety. The steps were based off of the 8 steps that are laid out in Kotter’s more famous book, “Leading Change”. The Head Penguin of the colony Louis executed this 8 step plan by listening to Fred’s findings then creating a sense of urgency in the colony to deal with the problem at hand. He then worked to form a carefully selected group in charge of working through the change, even if that meant not including long standing members of the penguin counsel and including members who were less well known but had complimentary skill sets. Louis then sat down with his committee to create a vision of what was to be done, and clearly communicated that vision to the entire colony, in ways that even the dumbest penguin would understand and accept. The committee then sat down to work, the goal was to remove any complexities in the plan so that it was practical. When the original buzz started to wear off and some penguins were not excited about the vision anymore they created an event to show that the plan would have a quick success and never let up once the buzz was back. Finally, they ensured that the changes would not be overcome by stubborn, long standing traditions, held within the colony. This process worked with the penguins and fortunately translates across species. Human behavior was exemplified by the situations in the book and the process proved to work against most, if not all, adversity that the counsel faced. It is always good to keep in mind as well that every member of a team has their own strengths; it’s like the quote, “Everyone’s a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life thinking that it’s stupid.” –Albert Einstein. Identifying, but more importantly utilizing everyone’s strengths can lead to great things. As far as a recommendation for the book I would say it is a MUST READ. The lesson is easy to understand, but powerful in nature. It is a quick read it took less than two hours to get through 132 pages. But most importantly it will bring you to evaluate your position and ask yourself the right questions, such as “If my iceberg melting?” -Matt Anderson
In this business management fable, one penguin notices something problem that could become a big problem for the whole colony, but the other penguins don't want to listen, so he must convince and enlist the help of others to get something done. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)650.1Technology Management and auxiliary services Business Personal success in businessLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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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 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. ( )