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Our Iceberg Is Melting
176 pages
A charming, allegorical fable that transforms complex organizational psychology into an accessible tale of penguins facing a crisis.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting through a highly engaging, story-driven seminar. It moves at a brisk, purposeful pace, using the charming and accessible framework of a simple fable to unpack the heavy, often frustrating realities of organizational change. The mood is lighthearted yet earnest, balancing the very real threat of a melting home with the uplifting promise of heroic action and clever problem-solving. The prose is straightforward and unadorned, designed to make complex psychological and management concepts instantly recognizable through a cast of relatable penguin archetypes. It is a perfect fit for leaders, managers, or anyone feeling stuck in a fast-moving world, offering a motivational and emotionally satisfying blueprint for overcoming resistance and adapting to the unknown.
- Mood
- uplifting
- allegorical
- lighthearted
- Tone
- instructive
- earnest
- accessible
- motivational
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- navigating change · overcoming resistance · leadership and teamwork · problem-solving
- The writing
- Simple, clear, and fable-like, designed to deliver practical management lessons without unnecessary complexity.
- The arc
- The journey shifts from comfortable complacency and frustrating denial to urgent, heroic action and triumphant adaptation.
- Who it's for
- Professionals, managers, and anyone seeking an accessible, story-driven approach to handling rapid change and organizational hurdles.
Content notes
- environmental threats (allegorical)
About the book
Our Iceberg is Melting is a simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard's John Kotter, it is a story that has been used to help thousands of people and organizations. The fable is about a penguin colony in Antarctica. A group of beautiful emperor penguins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home -- and pretty much no one listens to him. The characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo, are like people we recognize -- even ourselves. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and the most clever tactics for dealing with those obstacles. It's a story that is occurring in different forms all around us today -- but the penguins handle the very real challenges a great deal better than most of us. Our Iceberg is Melting is based on pioneering work that shows how Eight Steps produce needed change in any sort of group. It's a story that can be enjoyed by anyone while at the same time providing invaluable guidance for a world that just keeps moving faster and faster. - Jacket flap.
Description from Open Library.
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