OUR ICEBERG IS MELTING. Changing
and succeeding under any conditions.
Pan
MacMillan India Pvt. Ltd. London, 2006. pp. 147, Rs. 248 (Flipkart)
This is an amazing book by Harvard’s John Kotter written in
association with Holger Rathgeber who is a modern global manager. Though
written in 2006, the book’s content and message is extremely relevant today for
individuals and companies existing in these turbulent times.
The appeal of the book lies in its message delivery in the form of
a fable. The book talks about the devastating and life threatening challenges
faced by a colony of emperor penguins in Antartica and how they overcome them and
continue to flourish by altering their culture.
As you read the book, you will be able to identify with the
penguin characters. You will realize that many such individuals exist in your
company (including yourself) who can determine the direction of your company
with their sheer efforts – good or bad. The book will persuade you to sit back
and think where you are going, what you are doing, whether you are missing out
on potential opportunities or overlooking threats to your existence. How are
you gearing up to tackle your issues? The prescriptive nature of the book will
let you create your own change management plan and enjoy the fruits.
The
eight step process talked about in the book starts from a sense of urgency created by a young penguin Fred who discovers that
the very existence of their iceberg is at stake (which is melting and leave the
penguins looking at a bleak future) and when disaster strikes they will be at a
disadvantage and ill-equipped to face it. He approached the most “open” person
in the council of leaders to share his findings.
Once
this leader Alice is convinced that Fred has a strong case, she gathers support
from other leaders and creates a core
team to find a lasting solution. Penguins with complementing skill-sets
like communication, data analysis and pattern formation, negotiator are brought
into the team.
This
core team sees an opportunity while observing a seagull and decides on altering
their very culture of how they live to tackle the issue of survival. They share this vision of change and how they
are going to achieve it with their fellow colony members. As predicted, there
are skeptics amongst the penguins who constantly question the validity of data
or seriousness of the issue.
The
book finely brings out the fears and motivation possessed by individuals, the
nuances of group behavior and need for strong communication, the stress that is
caused by the need to change and how to overcome the resistance of people and
create a brand new culture.
The
turning point of the book is when one of the penguin’s Buddy gives a heart
rendering speech to the colony members and tells them “This iceberg is not who we are. It is only where we now live. We will
find other places to live that are safer. WE WILL PREVAIL.”
As the
guiding team sees positive response, they start disseminating proactive
information and posters to keep reinforcing the knowledge to the fellow
penguins lest their memory becomes dim. This communication is essential for buy-in as the authors suggest. But
resistance continues though slowly dwindling.
When
the team faces the challenge to look for scouts to identify newer icebergs,
they understand the need to empower
others to act in whatever capacity they can to bring about the larger
change. A little penguin Sally Ann plays a dramatic role here. This shows that
when survival is at stake everyone should be pulled in to do their bit for the greater
cause.
But
with the best of the vision and strategy or team nothing sways support like small verifiable wins which assures
people that the vision is real and achievable; parts of which have been achieved.
It creates hope and motivates more people to join the mission.
The
initial success is little hard to come by but once that happens, there should
be a steady push to keep on achieving
and doing better. Complacency is the greatest obstacle to all things good. The
penguins which have now started living a nomadic life slowly gets used to it
and starts enjoying it. This is the birth
of a newer sustainable culture given the circumstances.
The actual book is only 125 pages of lucid text and lot of
illustrations. An average reader will be able to read the book completely in
one hour. However, once you read it, it will hook you on with its message and
set alight your thinking process. It will not be surprising if you go back to
the book many more times.
Owing to its generic message about the need to change and how to
go about it; the book is appealing for a cross section of readers comprising of
various age group (18 – 60 years) and gender engaged in diverse occupation and
roles from business owners, company CEOs, middle managers, doctors, lawyers,
teachers, shopkeepers and politicians to housewives and upcoming entrepreneurs.
Everyday there is an innovation which might make our products
obsolete or a new policy that threatens our cash flow, liquidity, investments. In
a business, such surprises can spring from any quarter. The more prepared we
are to face these changes the greater chances of our succeeding under any condition.
This book is worth investing a short time to read and see what
remarkable value it has to offer. Go ahead, read it and share it with your
employees, colleagues, friends and family. This book offers something for everyone.
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