Creating the NOW Attitude
“Our Iceberg is Melting” Model
Prepared by:
James J. Messina, Ph.D.
Handling the Unexpected

“Our Iceberg is Melting” model
 Importance of sense of urgency
 Ways to instill the sense of urgency
 Obstacles of complacency
“Our Iceberg Is Melting”
A story about an iceberg colony whose
future is uncertain
“Our Iceberg Is Melting”
Fred finds
problem and
needs to
instill sense
of urgency
“Our Iceberg Is Melting”
Fred needs to inform colony of potential
problem and possible solutions
“Our Iceberg Is Melting”
Fred seeks
help of others
to overcome
complacency
of the group
NoNo
The 80-20
Principle
20 % Doers vs.
80 % Non-doers (NoNo)
 Doers
 Responsible for the survival of life
 Must always face negative criticisms of non-doers
 Non-doers (NoNo)
 Complacent, comfortable & stubborn
 Usually the ones to point the finger of blame first
– “Why me?”, “It’s not fair.” or “It won’t work.”
 Need to move more people into the Doers
Major Obstacles of
Complacency



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The absence of a major crisis
Too many visible resources
Low standards of performance
Organizational structure that
focuses employees on narrow
functional goals
Internal measurements that
focus on the wrong
performance indexes
More Major Obstacles
of Complacency


Lack of sufficient
performance feedback
from external sources
Kill the messenger culture


Human nature of
denial
Too much happy talk
from upper
management
Instilling the Sense of Urgency
How do YOU
put the wheel
in motion?
 How do YOU
get the NOW
attitude?

YOU MUST DISRUPT THE
STATUS QUO MENTALITY
How to disrupt the Status Quo


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Create a Crisis
Eliminate examples of excess
Set revenue, productivity &
customer satisfaction so high
that they can not be meet by
present business practice
Increase department’s
responsibility for overall
business performance
Send more data about
customer satisfaction to
employees
More on: How to disrupt the
Status Quo

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

Insist on confronting unsatisfied relationships
immediately
Use consultants in manager meetings to drive
honest discussions & use of more relevant
data
Stop happy talk when not appropriate
Bombard people with information on future
opportunities/rewards & organization’s
current inability to pursue those opportunities
“The achievement -of excellence can
only occur if the organization promotes
a culture of creative dissatisfaction.”
Lawrence Miller
Do YOU Have What it Takes to
Create the “NOW” Attitude ?
Eight Step Process to
Successful Change by John Kotter
Set the Stage
1. Create a sense of Urgency
2. Pull together the guiding team
Decide What to Do
3. Develop the change vision and strategy
Eight Step Process to
Successful Change by John Kotter
Make it Happen
4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy in
5. Empower others to act
6. Produce short-term wins
7. Don’t let up
Make it Stick
8. Create a new culture
Summary
•
•
•
Why is it important for
YOU to have a sense of
urgency in the face of
change?
What are the obstacles
that can stop YOU in the
process of change?
Do YOU understand the
ways to instill the sense of
urgency?
References

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John P. Kotter and Holger Rathgeber (2005). Our
Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Suceeding Under
Any Conditions. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
John P. Kotter (1996). Leading Change. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.
John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen (2002). The
Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People
Change Their Organizations. Boston: Harvard
Business School Press.

Our Iceberg is Melting website:
http://www.ouricebergismelting.com/