Our Iceberg is Melting
Author(s): John Kotter, Holger Rathgeber
Format: Hardback 160pages
ISBN: 031236198
Link to Barnes & Noble
Verdict: Recommend
When I originally saw this book, I would have sworn it was by Spencer Johnson. The size of the book is about the same as "Who Moved My Cheese" the font is similar, the book just LOOKED like it should be a Spencer Johnson book. While it's not BY Spencer Johnson, it reads like it. The premise is similar to that of "Who Moved My Cheese", but this time we have penguins on an iceberg and not rats in a maze. It's told in fable format, the font is big and there are a lot of pictures. So reading this in two sittings wasn't much of a challenge. Overall I enjoyed it.
The story starts out by showcasing a colony of penguins on an iceberg. Fat, dumb and happy penguins. There is one penguin however, Fred, who begins to notice something strange is afoot on their iceberg. After careful examination of said iceberg, Fred determines that at some point, their iceberg will break apart and melt. Fred is wondering if he should say anything because earlier another penguin was of the same opinion and was ostrascized for his beliefs. So Fred researches the problem further and only after his is absolutely convinced, does he take his issue up with a member of the Penguin council, Alice. Fred shows Alice what he is concerned about to convince her and together they go before the whole penguin council to present their ideas and findings.
The book gradually takes you through the 8 stages of managing change. It shows how to deal with people that just won't ever be comfortable with the change and how to council and guide people through the change. It was a good read and overall I'd recommend it. I did like "Who moved my cheese better" but again, it had a bit of a different bent to it.