Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

The revised and updated tenth anniversary edition of the classic, beloved business fable that has changed millions of lives in organizations around the world.
 
Our Iceberg Is Melting is a simple story about doing well under the stress and uncertainty of rapid change. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard Business School’s John Kotter, it can help you and your colleagues thrive during tough times.
 
On an iceberg near the coast of Antarctica, group of beautiful emperor pen­guins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home—and almost no one listens to him.
 
The characters in the story—Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo—are like people you probably recognize in your own organization, including yourself. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and clever tactics for dealing with those obstacles. The penguins offer an inspiring model as we all struggle to adapt to new circumstances.
 
Our Iceberg Is Melting is based on John Kotter's pioneer­ing research into the eight steps that can produce needed change in any sort of group. After finishing the story, you'll have a powerful framework for influencing your own team, no matter how big or small.

This tenth anniversary edition preserves the text of the timeless story, together with new illustrations, a revised afterword, and a Q&A with the authors about the responses they've gotten over the past decade. Prepare to be both enlightened and delighted, whether you're already a fan of this classic fable or are discovering it for the first time. 

• ISBN10: 0399563911
• ISBN13: 9780399563911
• Publish Date: 5 January 2016 (first published 1 September 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Portfolio
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399563911

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

Our Iceberg is Melting is one of those ‘trendy’ self-help books that are so simple that somehow they are passed off as revolutionary…when in fact they are actually really simple. Who would have guessed?

Our Iceberg is Melting (or OIiM from now on) is a how to succeed book written in the style of a fable. So not only does it include fully illustrated and colored pictures but it’s also so simple a kid could read it…seriously…I’m not joking it’s written on a elementary school level. Which is great if you have a really ambitious kid who wants to know how to succeed but isn’t quite ready for the heavy stuff. As an adult I felt it to be really lacking. It is enjoyable, well more enjoyable than any other business help book I’ve tried to slog through so far, so that’s saying something…and it gets points for approachability seeing as anyone can pick this up and grasp what it’s saying.

What this book lacks is any sort of depth. We get to see initiative and compromise in action, and we get a bit of an explanation as to why they were used…but since it’s written like a fable you get like a sentence before it moves on with the story. I do see how it’s “helpful” but anyone who has had to work in a group in highschool for a project or paper knows how to do this stuff…seriously…we also know how things really happen in real life. Someone has the idea, everyone bickers over the logistics, roles are handed out, work beings…and a day before it’s due you’re doing the slacker’s work. Sure business might not be like that exactly, but you get the point. This book prepares you the same way those group assignments prepared you.

I would hesitate to ever call this “profound”, though I suppose the term “nifty” fits. It’s a interesting idea and it does make some of the ideas easier to understand…but if you’re looking to succeed in business i really suggest you find a book that is actually filled with words and not pictures of penguins with a briefcase.