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| Our Iceberg Is Melting |
The Book “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter does a unique job of showing that most problems, be it personal or business under any condition can be solved with the right strategy in place and when that strategy is properly supported by those in positions of authority, the end result will be a successful change initiative.
The book helps me see myself as one of the heroes and envision myself as an eligible champion for change – because it lets me understand the mysteries of what i may have previously thought was reserved for only the bosses with all the answers.
After reading “Our Iceberg is Melting” everyone has the opportunity to:
1. Find new and better ways to act
2. Find increased conviction to stay the course
3. Find ways to initiate change
4. Find ways to help with initiatives of others
5. Achieve more, gain more pride, have more fun, suffer fewer problems
Make the organization more successful, and Put everyone else less at risk
Fred is an unusually curious and observant penguin who
lives amongst other penguins in the Antarctic. Fred has a briefcase full of
observations, ideas and conclusions about their iceberg and the sea. Fred was
becoming worried but felt that he was in no position to make any pronouncements
or dictate how others should act. He felt lonely.
The penguin colony, as you would expect, had a Leadership council “The group of Ten”.
Alice was one of “the Ten”, tough, practical, with a reputation for getting things done. Fred percieved that she would be receptive to his concerns so he approached her with his findings. Alice does not ignore Fred but skeptically requests that he take her to the place where the problem was discovered. In essence, due to various scientific principles, the iceberg was at great risk of being broken into pieces. Alice is shaken but doesn’t show it, questions Fred extensively and then suggests he talk to the other leaders BUT warns him that he should be prepared for denial.
Winter was now only 2 months away!
Louis heads up the Leadership council and deals with Alice diplomatically. She is of course insistent and so Fred is invited to their next meeting. Fred’s builds a model of the iceberg to creatively demonstrate the problem threatening them all.
Fred senses openness from Louis but some other leaders do nothing to hide their skepticism, Alice insists that this situation can no longer be ignored. NoNo is the weather forecaster who had trouble managing his emotions and that manifested in a physical way.
NoNo is of the unshakable opinion that the iceberg is strong and can withstand the expansion and shrinking and that Fred’s finding are just theory, speculation and fear mongering and certainly not accurate.
Things were not looking good for Fred. Alice knew it but urged Fred to respond. Fred responds simply with “What will you say to the families who have lost children when they ask you ‘How could you have let this happen?’ ‘Well yes sorry. We had heard that there might be a problem, but the information was not 100% credible.’”
The leadership instinctively want to form a committee and keep it all secret but Alice’s line of reasoning is that they need to get as many friends and family on board in order to find a solution that many will accept. Fred cautiously suggests they fill a glass bottle with water and see if it is broken by the force of the water freezing to prove his findings had merit.
Buddy is a quiet and handsome penguin who everyone seemed to like and trust, especially the ladies in the colony. Buddy oversees this experiment. The bottle cracks, Buddy is convinced, NoNo is not and Louis decides to have an assembly. Alice made sure the topic of the day was not leaked to the colony which built up a bit of interest and suspense. Alice told of her swim with Fred, everyone had a chance to look at the iceberg model and bottle, ask questions of Fred and complacency about this being the perfect iceberg began to dissipate. Fred, Louis and Alice had created a Sense of Urgency, by reducing complacency, seeing the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.
As soon as the meeting concluded the conversations in the hallways and restrooms began. NoNo informed Louis that as the Head it was Louis’ duty to solve this problem on his own because “That’s what leaders do”. Another penguin suggests that Louis should delegate to the younger penguins as they were the ice experts. Louis does not like that idea because “the younger ones have no credibility in the colony,
they have no known leadership skills,
they were very inexperienced.”
Louis calls Alice, Fred and Buddy together, brings in the “Professor” and declares this to be the team to guide the colony through this difficult period. The Professor is asked to define their challenge clearly and make an assessment of each of their strengths. His assessment is as follows:
“Louis: Head penguin. Enough experience to be wise. Patient. A bit conservative. Not easily flustered. Respected by almost all, except No and the teenagers. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Alice: Practical. Aggressive. Makes things happen. Doesn’t care about status and treats everyone the same. Impossible to intimidate, so don’t even try. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Buddy: Boyishly handsome. Not the slightest bit ambitious. Well trusted and liked. Definitely not an intellectual heavyweight.
Fred: Younger. Amazingly curious and creative. Level-headed. Insufficient data to judge his I.Q.
The Professor: Logical (actually, very logical). Well read. Fascinated by interesting questions.
Conclusion = Louis + Alice + Buddy + Fred + Professor, a strong group!”
Fred is astonished that he made the cut!
The first challenge they face is to approach a set task as a group rather than as 5 individuals. To overcome this they break for lunch and go squid hunting. Squid can only be hunted in groups since in a one to one situation the squid will win due to their ‘ink shooting’ tactical advantage. While the group bond the Professor analyses current situation: Fred finds melting iceberg, tough sell to complacent group, goes to Alice, builds model, does the thing with the bottle, group meeting, complacency reduced, team selected, interesting mix, turning non-team into team with squid and chitchat. Louis Pulled Together the Guiding Team with each member having one of the following qualities – leadership, credibility, communication skill, authority, analytical skill.
Alice wants to talk to the colony members. For the most part the suggested solutions are centered on fixing the iceberg and generally not plausible, but, they gave ear to those who needed to share their anxieties. During their research phase they discover a seagull that appears out of place in their environment. The seagull describes his life as a ‘scout’ and the nomadic lifestyle they are used to. Alice knows that the penguins can’t just copy the Seagull’s way of life, but it is interesting and so logical. The professor believed that the team had succeeded in creating a vision, Develop the Change Vision and Strategy by clarifying how the future will be different from the past and how the future can be made a reality.
It was time to get the message out.
The Professor spends the morning preparing a presentation to communicate their vision that no one understands. Louis did not like risk but he decides to appeal to the colony’s emotions instead with a ‘We are not an Iceberg’ speech, addressing the following:
That they are penguins who deeply respect one another.
That they strongly value discipline.
That they have a strong sense of responsibility.
That they stand for brotherhood and the love of their young.
Are that these beliefs and shared values ARE NOT linked to a large piece of ice.
Buddy is the one to inspire the group with the vision of a better life. Buddy was a great storyteller and effectively demonstrated that the penguins were smarter, stronger and more capable than the seagulls and so could do what they did but much better. By the end of the meeting:
30% were convinced the vision had merit
30% were processing everything
20% were confused
10% were skeptical but not hostile
10% were convinced it was all absurd, and
NoNo was having major blood pressure issues.
Alice now needs iceposters to make sure that everyday, everywhere the birds, are reminded all the time of what they had heard and Communicated for Understanding and Buy-in to ensure that as many penguins as possible came to see and accept what had to be done.
Over the next week for the most part enthusiasm was growing and many expressed an interest in scouting for new locations. But, an undercurrent of fear was beginning to spread. NoNo and some of his posse were forecasting storms and dangerous currents and some of the very young began having nightmares. The parents of these anxious youngsters became anxious, infighting erupted within the leadership council and everyone realized that penguins out scouting would not be out fishing and no other adult penguin would share their food with them. It simply was not done. These problems of course encourage NoNo to work harder.
Amanda, who you have not previously met, is on the planning committee. She works 14 hours a day and is totally sold out to the vision. However her husband has been spooked by NoNo’s fearmongering and her child’s nightmares had become chilling. When she hears about the scout feeding problem her frustration begins to outweigh her initial excitement. Amanda stops attending the planning meetings. So do many others. The team knew that this needed to be addressed. NoNo was everywhere.
Louis pulls NoNo aside and explains that a scientific approach needs to underpin the weather prediction and that henceforth the Professor would be assisting him in this role. NoNo is not impressed but cannot escape the Professor or his constant citing of published literature on the topic of iceberg trauma.
Buddy was tasked with the huge responsibility of addressing the kindergarten teacher and her sudden new found passion for telling horror stories about the sea creatures that would devour them all. Buddy is able to expose her fear of having to adapt and possibly being made redundant in the new environment. Buddy was successful.
The penguin colony, as you would expect, had a Leadership council “The group of Ten”.
Alice was one of “the Ten”, tough, practical, with a reputation for getting things done. Fred percieved that she would be receptive to his concerns so he approached her with his findings. Alice does not ignore Fred but skeptically requests that he take her to the place where the problem was discovered. In essence, due to various scientific principles, the iceberg was at great risk of being broken into pieces. Alice is shaken but doesn’t show it, questions Fred extensively and then suggests he talk to the other leaders BUT warns him that he should be prepared for denial.
Winter was now only 2 months away!
Louis heads up the Leadership council and deals with Alice diplomatically. She is of course insistent and so Fred is invited to their next meeting. Fred’s builds a model of the iceberg to creatively demonstrate the problem threatening them all.
Fred senses openness from Louis but some other leaders do nothing to hide their skepticism, Alice insists that this situation can no longer be ignored. NoNo is the weather forecaster who had trouble managing his emotions and that manifested in a physical way.
NoNo is of the unshakable opinion that the iceberg is strong and can withstand the expansion and shrinking and that Fred’s finding are just theory, speculation and fear mongering and certainly not accurate.
Things were not looking good for Fred. Alice knew it but urged Fred to respond. Fred responds simply with “What will you say to the families who have lost children when they ask you ‘How could you have let this happen?’ ‘Well yes sorry. We had heard that there might be a problem, but the information was not 100% credible.’”
The leadership instinctively want to form a committee and keep it all secret but Alice’s line of reasoning is that they need to get as many friends and family on board in order to find a solution that many will accept. Fred cautiously suggests they fill a glass bottle with water and see if it is broken by the force of the water freezing to prove his findings had merit.
Buddy is a quiet and handsome penguin who everyone seemed to like and trust, especially the ladies in the colony. Buddy oversees this experiment. The bottle cracks, Buddy is convinced, NoNo is not and Louis decides to have an assembly. Alice made sure the topic of the day was not leaked to the colony which built up a bit of interest and suspense. Alice told of her swim with Fred, everyone had a chance to look at the iceberg model and bottle, ask questions of Fred and complacency about this being the perfect iceberg began to dissipate. Fred, Louis and Alice had created a Sense of Urgency, by reducing complacency, seeing the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.
As soon as the meeting concluded the conversations in the hallways and restrooms began. NoNo informed Louis that as the Head it was Louis’ duty to solve this problem on his own because “That’s what leaders do”. Another penguin suggests that Louis should delegate to the younger penguins as they were the ice experts. Louis does not like that idea because “the younger ones have no credibility in the colony,
they have no known leadership skills,
they were very inexperienced.”
Louis calls Alice, Fred and Buddy together, brings in the “Professor” and declares this to be the team to guide the colony through this difficult period. The Professor is asked to define their challenge clearly and make an assessment of each of their strengths. His assessment is as follows:
“Louis: Head penguin. Enough experience to be wise. Patient. A bit conservative. Not easily flustered. Respected by almost all, except No and the teenagers. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Alice: Practical. Aggressive. Makes things happen. Doesn’t care about status and treats everyone the same. Impossible to intimidate, so don’t even try. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Buddy: Boyishly handsome. Not the slightest bit ambitious. Well trusted and liked. Definitely not an intellectual heavyweight.
Fred: Younger. Amazingly curious and creative. Level-headed. Insufficient data to judge his I.Q.
The Professor: Logical (actually, very logical). Well read. Fascinated by interesting questions.
Conclusion = Louis + Alice + Buddy + Fred + Professor, a strong group!”
Fred is astonished that he made the cut!
The first challenge they face is to approach a set task as a group rather than as 5 individuals. To overcome this they break for lunch and go squid hunting. Squid can only be hunted in groups since in a one to one situation the squid will win due to their ‘ink shooting’ tactical advantage. While the group bond the Professor analyses current situation: Fred finds melting iceberg, tough sell to complacent group, goes to Alice, builds model, does the thing with the bottle, group meeting, complacency reduced, team selected, interesting mix, turning non-team into team with squid and chitchat. Louis Pulled Together the Guiding Team with each member having one of the following qualities – leadership, credibility, communication skill, authority, analytical skill.
Alice wants to talk to the colony members. For the most part the suggested solutions are centered on fixing the iceberg and generally not plausible, but, they gave ear to those who needed to share their anxieties. During their research phase they discover a seagull that appears out of place in their environment. The seagull describes his life as a ‘scout’ and the nomadic lifestyle they are used to. Alice knows that the penguins can’t just copy the Seagull’s way of life, but it is interesting and so logical. The professor believed that the team had succeeded in creating a vision, Develop the Change Vision and Strategy by clarifying how the future will be different from the past and how the future can be made a reality.
It was time to get the message out.
The Professor spends the morning preparing a presentation to communicate their vision that no one understands. Louis did not like risk but he decides to appeal to the colony’s emotions instead with a ‘We are not an Iceberg’ speech, addressing the following:
That they are penguins who deeply respect one another.
That they strongly value discipline.
That they have a strong sense of responsibility.
That they stand for brotherhood and the love of their young.
Are that these beliefs and shared values ARE NOT linked to a large piece of ice.
Buddy is the one to inspire the group with the vision of a better life. Buddy was a great storyteller and effectively demonstrated that the penguins were smarter, stronger and more capable than the seagulls and so could do what they did but much better. By the end of the meeting:
30% were convinced the vision had merit
30% were processing everything
20% were confused
10% were skeptical but not hostile
10% were convinced it was all absurd, and
NoNo was having major blood pressure issues.
Alice now needs iceposters to make sure that everyday, everywhere the birds, are reminded all the time of what they had heard and Communicated for Understanding and Buy-in to ensure that as many penguins as possible came to see and accept what had to be done.
Over the next week for the most part enthusiasm was growing and many expressed an interest in scouting for new locations. But, an undercurrent of fear was beginning to spread. NoNo and some of his posse were forecasting storms and dangerous currents and some of the very young began having nightmares. The parents of these anxious youngsters became anxious, infighting erupted within the leadership council and everyone realized that penguins out scouting would not be out fishing and no other adult penguin would share their food with them. It simply was not done. These problems of course encourage NoNo to work harder.
Amanda, who you have not previously met, is on the planning committee. She works 14 hours a day and is totally sold out to the vision. However her husband has been spooked by NoNo’s fearmongering and her child’s nightmares had become chilling. When she hears about the scout feeding problem her frustration begins to outweigh her initial excitement. Amanda stops attending the planning meetings. So do many others. The team knew that this needed to be addressed. NoNo was everywhere.
Louis pulls NoNo aside and explains that a scientific approach needs to underpin the weather prediction and that henceforth the Professor would be assisting him in this role. NoNo is not impressed but cannot escape the Professor or his constant citing of published literature on the topic of iceberg trauma.
Buddy was tasked with the huge responsibility of addressing the kindergarten teacher and her sudden new found passion for telling horror stories about the sea creatures that would devour them all. Buddy is able to expose her fear of having to adapt and possibly being made redundant in the new environment. Buddy was successful.
The penguin colony, as you would expect, had a Leadership council “The group of Ten”.
Alice was one of “the Ten”, tough, practical, with a reputation for getting things done. Fred percieved that she would be receptive to his concerns so he approached her with his findings. Alice does not ignore Fred but skeptically requests that he take her to the place where the problem was discovered. In essence, due to various scientific principles, the iceberg was at great risk of being broken into pieces. Alice is shaken but doesn’t show it, questions Fred extensively and then suggests he talk to the other leaders BUT warns him that he should be prepared for denial.
Winter was now only 2 months away!
Louis heads up the Leadership council and deals with Alice diplomatically. She is of course insistent and so Fred is invited to their next meeting. Fred’s builds a model of the iceberg to creatively demonstrate the problem threatening them all.
Fred senses openness from Louis but some other leaders do nothing to hide their skepticism, Alice insists that this situation can no longer be ignored. NoNo is the weather forecaster who had trouble managing his emotions and that manifested in a physical way.
NoNo is of the unshakable opinion that the iceberg is strong and can withstand the expansion and shrinking and that Fred’s finding are just theory, speculation and fearmongering and certainly not accurate.
Things were not looking good for Fred. Alice knew it but urged Fred to respond. Fred responds simply with “What will you say to the families who have lost children when they ask you ‘How could you have let this happen?’ ‘Well yes sorry. We had heard that there might be a problem, but the information was not 100% credible.’”
The leadership instinctively want to form a committee and keep it all secret but Alice’s line of reasoning is that they need to get as many friends and family on board in order to find a solution that many will accept. Fred cautiously suggests they fill a glass bottle with water and see if it is broken by the force of the water freezing to prove his findings had merit.
Buddy is a quiet and handsome penguin who everyone seemed to like and trust, especially the ladies in the colony. Buddy oversees this experiment. The bottle cracks, Buddy is convinced, NoNo is not and Louis decides to have an assembly. Alice made sure the topic of the day was not leaked to the colony which built up a bit of interest and suspense. Alice told of her swim with Fred, everyone had a chance to look at the iceberg model and bottle, ask questions of Fred and complacency about this being the perfect iceberg began to dissipate. Fred, Louis and Alice had created a Sense of Urgency, by reducing complacency, seeing the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.
As soon as the meeting concluded the conversations in the hallways and restrooms began. NoNo informed Louis that as the Head it was Louis’ duty to solve this problem on his own because “That’s what leaders do”. Another penguin suggests that Louis should delegate to the younger penguins as they were the ice experts. Louis does not like that idea because:“the younger ones have no credibility in the colony,
they have no known leadership skills,
they were very inexperienced.”
Louis calls Alice, Fred and Buddy together, brings in the “Professor” and declares this to be the team to guide the colony through this difficult period. The Professor is asked to define their challenge clearly and make an assessment of each of their strengths. His assessment is as follows:
“Louis: Head penguin. Enough experience to be wise. Patient. A bit conservative. Not easily flustered. Respected by almost all, except NoNo and the teenagers. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Alice: Practical. Aggressive. Makes things happen. Doesn’t care about status and treats everyone the same. Impossible to intimidate, so don’t even try. Smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight).
Buddy: Boyishly handsome. Not the slightest bit ambitious. Well trusted and liked. Definitely not an intellectual heavyweight.
Fred: Younger. Amazingly curious and creative. Level-headed. Insufficient data to judge his I.Q.
The Professor: Logical (actually, very logical). Well read. Fascinated by interesting questions.
Conclusion = Louis + Alice + Buddy + Fred + Professor, a strong group!”
Fred is astonished that he made the cut!
The first challenge they face is to approach a set task as a group rather than as 5 individuals. To overcome this they break for lunch and go squid hunting. Squid can only be hunted in groups since in a one to one situation the squid will win due to their ‘ink shooting’ tactical advantage. While the group bond the Professor analyses current situation: Fred finds melting iceberg, tough sell to complacent group, goes to Alice, builds model, does the thing with the bottle, group meeting, complacency reduced, team selected, interesting mix, turning nonteam into team with squid and chitchat. Louis Pulled Together the Guiding Team with each member having one of the following qualities – leadership, credibility, communication skill, authority, analytical skill.
Alice wants to talk to the colony members. For the most part the suggested solutions are centered on fixing the iceberg and generally not plausible, but, they gave ear to those who needed to share their anxieties. During their research phase they discover a seagull that appears out of place in their environment. The seagull describes his life as a ‘scout’ and the nomadic lifestyle they are used to. Alice knows that the penguins can’t just copy the Seagull’s way of life, but it is interesting and so logical. The professor believed that the team had succeeded in creating a vision, Develop the Change Vision and Strategy by clarifying how the future will be different from the past and how the future can be made a reality.
It was time to get the message out.
The Professor spends the morning preparing a presentation to communicate their vision, that no one understands. Louis did not like risk but he decides to appeal to the colony’s emotions instead with a ‘We are not an Iceberg’ speech, addressing the following:
That they are penguins who deeply respect one another.
That they strongly value discipline.
That they have a strong sense of responsibility.
That they stand for brotherhood and the love of their young.
Are that these beliefs and shared values ARE NOT linked to a large piece of ice.
Buddy is the one to inspire the group with the vision of a better life. Buddy was a great storyteller and effectively demonstrated that the penguins were smarter, stronger and more capable than the seagulls and so could do what they did but much better. By the end of the meeting:
30% were convinced the vision had merit
30% were processing everything
20% were confused
10% were skeptical but not hostile
10% were convinced it was all absurd, and
NoNo was having major blood pressure issues.
Alice now needs iceposters to make sure that everyday, everywhere the birds, are reminded all the time of what they had heard and Communicated for Understanding and Buy-in to ensure that as many penguins as possible came to see and accept what had to be done.
Over the next week for the most part enthusiasm was growing and many expressed an interest in scouting for new locations. But, an undercurrent of fear was beginning to spread. NoNo and some of his posse were forecasting storms and dangerous currents and some of the very young began having nightmares. The parents of these anxious youngsters became anxious, infighting erupted within the leadership council and everyone realized that penguins out scouting would not be out fishing and no other adult penguin would share their food with them. It simply was not done. These problems of course encourage NoNo to work harder.
Amanda, who you have not previously met, is on the planning committee. She works 14 hours a day and is totally sold out to the vision. However her husband has been spooked by NoNo’s fearmongering and her child’s nightmares had become chilling. When she hears about the scout feeding problem her frustration begins to outweigh her initial excitement. Amanda stops attending the planning meetings. So do many others. The team knew that this needed to be addressed. NoNo was everywhere.
Louis pulls NoNo aside and explains that a scientific approach needs to underpin the weather prediction and that henceforth the Professor would be assisting him in this role. NoNo is not impressed but cannot escape the Professor or his constant citing of published literature on the topic of iceberg trauma.
Buddy was tasked with the huge responsibility of addressing the kindergarten teacher and her sudden new found passion for telling horror stories about the sea creatures that would devour them all. Buddy is able to expose her fear of having to adapt and possibly being made redundant in the new environment. Buddy was successful in reassuring her of how critical the role of schooling would be after all the changes occurred. He was reassuring. He was patient. He was calm and sincere because that was what Buddy was really good at.
The teacher now began to tell the children heroic tales with great enthusiasm. The colony was in need of heroes to deal with all the new challenges. One of the students, Sally Ann was such a hero in the making. She enquired of Alice as to how she could become one. Alice suggests that if Sally Ann could make her parents understand that the Head penguins needed their help, especially in catching fish to feed the scouts, then she would be a true hero.
With the help of the teacher and her class, Sally Ann births the “Tribute to Our Heroes Day”.
The colony needed to see progress as quickly as possible so the scouts were deployed. They did not need to find a new home, just a few possibilities. Fred had chosen well in selecting some strong, bright and highly enthusiastic volunteers.
The biggest threat still remained. Who would feed the scouts when they returned? The adults gather ONLY for their young and would not share. Enter in Sally Ann, the kindergartener with her tribute day. There would be raffles, performances, a band and market: your typical fundraising type fete. The price of admission was set at 2 fish/adult. As you would expect not everyone was on board but the parents of the young birds were mightily proud of the creativity displayed by their children.
NoNo worked harder this day than he had his entire career!
Sally Ann and her little colleagues had prepared ribbons for all the returning scouts: glittering ice medals with the inscription, HERO.
By creating some visible success as soon as possible, the colony was observing the results and producing short term wins.
Aside from the penguins that were just nervous by nature, more birds started to volunteer for scouting adventures. There were still reservations for some that were justifiable but no one was paying attention to NoNo anymore. Alice was relentless in keeping up the momentum and maintaining everyone’s level of courage. Gathering fish for the scouts was now part of the normal routine.
Just before the start of the Antarctic winter the migration began. Chaotic at times but for the most part it was well executed. Louis effective leadership earned him the admiration of the colony. Buddy attended to the emotional needs of the worried and frantic and it is unknown how many additional females fell in love with him during this period. Fred’s creativity was called upon to tackle all problems no one had a solution for and the Professor began to enjoy the admiration of those birds with whom he had no intellectual commonality. Alice worked 21 hour days and NoNo preached failure to the bitter end.
The winter passed. Problems were encountered but they were not insurmountable. The next season an even better iceberg was discovered. It could be argued that the colony had endured enough change and should stay at their current location forever.
Conclusion: Despite the different qualities in people at
work they can achieve positive result by coming together to work as a TEAM and also accept CHANGE as a tool to achieve their set
goals.
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