Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

Our Iceberg Is Melting is written by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber.  At 146 pages, it is a quick, easy read that effectively shows you how to orchestrate change in your organization and points out the potential pitfalls that may/will occur along the way.

John Kotter is the author of 18 books, many of them best sellers, and is an internationally known speaker on the topics of Leadership and Change.  He is considered by many to be the definitive voice on how the best organizations actually achieve successful transformations.

Holger Rathgeber has worked with John Kotter on various publishing and executive education programs since 2004, and has over 15years experience working with organizations to help them implement their strategies.

Our Iceberg Is Melting is written as a fable, demonstrating how change can be managed in any group or organization and is valuable for any situation involving changes.  It is written simply, yet meaningfully and filled with beautiful color illustrations.

The story takes place in Antarctica where a group of Empire Penguins are facing potential changes that have never occurred in their lifetimes and how they handle this change.  You will meet characters that will be easy to identify with.  Each organization has them.  You will meet the naysayer, the procrastinators, the leaders, the encyclopedia types who have data at their fingertips and the adventurous.

Throughout the story, Kotter and Rathgeber uses the eight steps process that Kotter identified and defined in Leading Change.  Our Iceberg Is Melting is done in story form and you will remember the lessons with no difficulty and be able to apply it to any changes occurring in your life.

How do Fred and Alice get others to see that there is a need for change and the urgency to make it happen?  How will they decide what to do to overcome the obstacles they meet along the way?  Who does the work?  How is communication handled?  What are the pitfalls to assuming things are moving along and constant vigilance lags?  How do the penguins create a new culture and make it stick.

All these questions are answered in the book.  When perusing the bookshelves, the first paragraph of the book – prior to the beginning of the fable – caught my eye.  For me, this paragraph is what drew me into the book.

“Handle the challenge of change well, and you can prosper greatly.  Handle it poorly, and you put

yourself and others at risk”

Berni Hollinger helps companies solve problems through patterns. As a Professional Quilter and CFO / Controller, she sees things differently. As a highly experienced CFO, Controller, Accountant, and Financial Consultant, she has led financial departments for Fortune 100 companies increasing bottom line growth and compassionately leading and training employees and restructuring processes to maximize profitability in the publishing, printing, subscriptions / fulfillment, manufacturing and transportation sectors. She is a Professional Quilter, and Quilting Instructor, creating lasting memories through exclusive designs of one-of-a-kind memory quilts.

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