Our Iceberg Is Melting
By: John Kotter
Management of Change
Ashley Kreuer
February 12, 2008
“Once upon a time a colony of penguins was living in the frozen Antarctic on an
iceberg near what we call today Cape Washington.” From the first sentence of John
Kotter’s bestselling book, Our Iceberg Is Melting, it is difficult to tell that one is about to
read a great fable about how to manage change in business as well as everyday life. !
The following summary will explain the key moments of the fable and how they relate
to our lives.
First, let’s introduce some of the more important penguins – the Leadership
Council members. Louis, the head of the Leadership Council, could perhaps be
considered the CEO of the penguin colony. Alice is a smart, aggressive member of the
council, and is Fred’s loyal confidant. Buddy is a young penguin council member who
may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but brings an element of trust among the
council members. Fred is the most curious of all of the penguins; although he was an
‘unknown’ penguin in the beginning, he ultimately plays a very important role in the
change process. Jordan, also known as the “Professor,” was the brains of the council;
he could perhaps be considered the ‘researcher’ of the group. Although the penguins
start out simply as individuals, in the end, they are a well working team capable of
effectively managing change.
Fred, a quite curious penguin, studies the wonderful iceberg that the penguins
consider home. He comes across a problem which suggests that their beloved iceberg
may be in danger of cracking into tiny pieces. Yet, he does not know what to do. How
does he approach the Leadership Council; after all, he is “just another penguin.” He
turns to Alice, as she has a reputation of making things happen. Fred presents his case
to her and then takes her to see the evidence with her own eyes. Once he ‘sells’ her on
his speculations, they begin to plan how they are going to tell the remainder of the
council. Alice warns Fred that some penguins are very resistant to change and may not
be open to listening to the new problem.
A few days later Fred is invited to a council meeting, thanks to Alice, to pitch his
case. He researched what type of presentation he should use to intrigue as many
council members as possible. (As every good business professional should do.)
Ultimately, Fred constructed a model made out of ice as a prop to demonstrate the
canals and the big cave, which when filled with water, would likely freeze and cause
their iceberg to break.
Some were intrigued. However, others were skeptical. For example, NoNo, who
was responsible for the weather forecasting, thought it was a big joke. As a result,
others started questioning the idea. In the end, Fred came up with the idea: He put
water in a closed glass bottle, set it outside for the night, and waited to see if, when
the water froze, it would expand and crack. This is where Buddy comes into play. He
is given the bottle to keep overnight since he is so well trusted throughout the colony.
They all meet back in the morning and Buddy came convinced. Louis, the Head
Penguin, then calls an assembly. Alice opened with her first hand experience story.
Fred then explained to the colony the direct danger they all were in and why. Buddy
continues with the story of the bottle. With all of the evidence and examples provided
by the team, interest and curiosity sparked which reduced complacency and increased
urgency, step one in the eight step process of successful change. In essence, they saw
a problem, figured how to professionally address it and brought it to the forefront which
increased the urgency of the situation.
Now, Louis, as Head Penguin, starts to ponder how he is supposed to fix this
problem. He analyzed and researched who he should get to help him because he
realized that he could not do it alone. He decided to pull together a team to guide the
needed change. Alice, Fred, Buddy, and Jordan were assigned to be the task team.
Step two, pull together the guiding team. In a corporate setting groups are important,
as one individual may not possess all of the knowledge or qualifications necessary to fix
a problem.
After obtaining suggestions from other penguins, they encounter a seagull. They
see the nomadic lifestyle that seagulls live, and this particular seagull’s job was known
as scouting, going ahead of the group to look for their next home. This created a vision
which all members of the guiding team were in agreement with. Step three: develop
the change vision and strategy.
Since the group had a new vision it was time to get the message out. Louis
gave a “we are not an iceberg” pep talk to get the colony. Once the assembly was over
there was a buzz about the new vision around the iceberg. It was now the
responsibility of the guiding team to keep the concept in the eyes of the penguins by
communicating the new vision. They created posters and creative slogans. Step four:
communicate for understanding and buy in.
However, all ideas cannot always hit the ground running with visible results. The
above mentioned communication tactics caused enthusiastic planners to become
doubtful and unenthusiastic. The guiding team realized they needed to re-assess the
situation immediately. This is again where Buddy comes into play with his way with
words. Buddy spoke with the teacher, in his kind way, and reassured the importance of
the change to her. After the teacher reassured her chicks that the change was positive,
Sally Ann wanted to help. After a brief run-in with Alice, Sally Ann realized anyone can
help and be a hero, and she wanted to be one. Thanks to yet another “no name
penguin” “Tribute to Our Heroes Day” was created to welcome back the scouts. In
addition, the school children collected fish to feed to the scouts when they returned.
This helped make everyone feel empowered. Step five: empower others to act.
Everyone’s vision had a chance to become reality no matter how “small” they were.
Fred was now put in charge of selecting an elite group for scouting. This
brought up another change in tradition by providing food for other adults or any
penguin other than your own children. The guiding team again relied on the chicks, the
everyday workers, to enforce the idea throughout the colony. The scouts created “a
short-term win.” They all returned successfully to tell of all they saw proving. Sally
Ann presented them with HERO metals and she was presented with the original glass
bottle. Step six: producing short-term wins to keep spirits high and the faith in the
change.
Fred was asked again to form a second wave of scouts, which included the
professor. This second wave found a suitable iceberg. On May 12th the chaotic move
began. Everything worked out as well as could be expected. The very next season
they would not let up in keeping with the new vision and change. They worried the
colony would be resistant to change again. Yet, they found a better home with more
fish supply, so they moved again. Keeping up with the time so you do not come across
a problem which cannot be solved. If you do abandon the new vision you just step
back from your competitors in a business world.
They continued to change and adapt by changing up the out-dated council
members. The professor was the new weather forecaster. Fred was head of scouts as
well as a new member of the Leadership Council. Buddy was offered a position but
turned it down. Louis became the “grandfather” and the colony began to rely on Alice
as the new Head Penguin. The colony ensured that changes would not be over come
by stubborn, hard-to-die traditions. Step eight: create a new culture. This is essential
in the fable as well as in the business world. You must build on your new business
culture because if you fall back to your old traditions you will be left behind.
This book demonstrates the eight steps of successfully managing change. It is a
story that is simple and easily related to managing change in a business. This is one
book that will serve a purpose of reference in my personal library. I would recommend
this to anyone facing a change no matter the situation. You can relate.