Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions (Hardcover)

by John Kotter (Author), Holger Rathgeber (Author), Peter Mueller (Illustrator), Spenser Johnson (Author)
Key Phrases: Head Penguin, Leadership Council

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About the Author
John Kotter has been on the faculty at Harvard Business School since 1972. He is the author of eleven award-winning titles and frequently gives speeches and seminars at Harvard and around the world. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Holger Rathgeber spent his early professional career in Asia. He has worked in industry since the early 1990's and is now with one of the leading medical technology companies, Bectom Dickinson. Raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Rathgeber currently resides in White Plains, New York.

Watch a video clip featuring author John Kotter

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From Publishers Weekly
Harvard Business School professor Kotter, author of the bestselling Leading Change (1996), teams up with executive Rathgeber to offer his contribution to the "business fable" genre. Kotter presents his framework for an effective corporate change initiative through the tale of a colony of Antarctic penguins facing danger-inspired, perhaps, by today's real-life global warming crisis (or, perhaps, by March of the Penguins' box office). Under the leadership of one particularly astute bird, a small team of penguins with varied personalities and leadership skills implement a thoughtful plan for coaxing the other birds in their colony through a time of necessary but wrenching change. The logic of Kotter's fictional framework is wobbly at times-his characters live and act very much like real penguins except that one carries a briefcase and another ("the Professor") cites articles from scholarly journals-and the whimsical tone will not be to everyone's taste. However, this light, quick read should fulfill its intended purpose: to serve as a springboard for group discussions about corporate culture, group dynamics and the challenges of change.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031236198X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361983
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,202 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Problem Solving Fable, September 21, 2006

By	Monty Rainey (New Braunfels, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fables have been used to illustrate problem solving, among many other things, for hundreds of years. Remember Aesop's fables? Several years ago, Kenneth Blanchard successfully re-introduced using fables to teach problem solving techniques with his book, Who Moved My Cheese. John Kotter replicated that method of instruction with this fun little book, OUR ICEBERG IS MELTING. As with the aforementioned work, I believe this one will garner similar acclaim.

Kotter's engaging story introduces the 8 principles of problem solving. This can be used in a variety of venues from business, church, child raising, sports, etc. Kotter illustrates how the penguins, faced with a tumultuous dilemma, identified the problem, created urgency, developed a team-building structure, and stepped outside the box. Along the way, the story is entertaining and includes a diverse array of skepticism, cynicism and other challenges that we all face.

The book is also very well illustrated and can easily be read in a couple of hours. It is also readable for almost any age level and would probably make a good reading lesson for children as well. They will certainly be entertained, if not captivated by the illustrations and side notes. Well done.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a gem!, September 8, 2006

By	Warren Wilhelm (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful gem of a little book. It uses a parable about a colony of easy-to-relate-to penguins to teach us how to understand and manage successful change. It marks a departure from the data-based research John Kotter is so respected for, and takes us into the realm of everyday life. Everyone, no matter who we are or what we do in life, should read, enjoy and learn from this gem!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got 45 Minutes? Read This Book, September 7, 2006

By	J. A. Winder (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Our Iceberg Is Melting takes a complex, institutional subject -- how organizations change -- and puts it into a simple and accessible form - in this case, a fable. How accessible? It's a 45-minute read, with humor and delightful illustrations. My teenagers picked it up voluntarily, liked the characters, and got the message - that changing how a group does things requires a process, or otherwise the obstacles win. Kotter and his co-author have put Kotter's 8-step change model into reach of any and all. I'm going to leave my copy on my desk at work. It's the perfect business book for those who never thought they'd read a business book.