A review of ‘Our Iceberg is Melting’ by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber with artwork by Peter Mueller

This is a straightforward yet educative and informative book to read. The book starts with a fable about penguins. Fred( one of the penguins discovered that their home ( the iceberg) was melting and brought up his discovery to the leading council. They were scared and worried about this problem which is the possibility of losing their home. Now faced with this problem, they tried looking for solutions and they had a little time to come up with a solution which was the possibility of a new home and a very different way of life to ensure survival.

Finally getting a solution to their problem, the time of implementation comes, though faced with some challenges like trying to encourage some penguins to go as scouts, trying to make others see the urgency of the problem and others. After overcoming these challenges and finally moving to another iceberg they did not stop there but continued to move another Iceberg.

Now relating this fable to ourselves and society we can see the importance of recognizing a problem or threats and acting on threats, the need for strong leadership and a clear vision, the power of communication and collaboration, and the importance of celebrating small wins and using it to building and maintaining momentum among us.

The book also talks about Kotter’s eight-step process of successful change

1. Create a sense of Urgency: when you identify a problem help others see it and the importance of acting immediately
2. Pull together the guiding team.
3. Develop the Change Vision and strategy.
4. Communicate for understanding and buy-in: help people understand the Vision.
5. Empower others to act:
6. Produce Short-Term Wins: Ensure to celebrate small wins as it encourages others to do the same.
7. Don’t Let Up: Tradition dies a hard death so don’t give up on this, breakthrough.
8. Create a new culture.

After reading through this book which is a valuable resource for anyone navigating change, both personally and professionally. I would encourage you to pick it up.