Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

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NEW YORK

TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BUSINESSWEEK BESTSELLER USA TODAY,

Our Iceberg Is Melting Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions \ \

John Kotter THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR FROM HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

it

making a

us. difference tor

^

^

Holger Rathgeber

is

__TomCuriey,CEO, Associated Press

//

Foreword by Spencer Johnson, M.D., author of

\

Who Mowed My Cheese?

"

ff^'

/

/

^

^

^

ISBN O-312-36198-X

Our

$19.95 /$24. 95

Iceberg Is Melting

^'^'^•

a

is

simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world.

Based on the award-

winning work of Harvard's John Kotter, a story that has

been used

to help

it is

thousands of

people and organizations.

The

fable

is

about

penguin colony

a

in

Antarctica.

A group of beautiful emperor pen-

guins

they have for

live as

many years. Then one

curious bird discovers a potentially devastating

problem threatening

much no one The

listens to

their

home — and

him.

characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis,

Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo,

are like people

we recognize — even ourselves. Their tale resistance to

for dealing

and the most clever

with those obstacles.

It's

occurring in different forms

today

is

one of

change and heroic action, seemingly

intractable obstacles

is

pretty

all

tactics

a story that

around us

— 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.

be enjoyed by anyone while

It's a

at the

story that can

same time pro-

viding invaluable guidance for a world that just

keeps moving faster and

faster.

For more resources and ideas, log on to www.ouricebergismelting.com

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2011

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Our Iceberg Is Melting

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What "Our Iceberg

Is

People Are Saying

Melting

is

superb.

embodies powerful mes-

It

sages that can help a broad audience.

success in a changing world,

covers

It

all

the steps to

from finding the substantial

issues,

aligning with a potent champion, charting the course, getting

buy-in, dealing with those

who want no

change, and so on."

— Chris Hand Citigroup Global Account Vice President AvAYA Corporation

"Never have

I

read a parable in a business

plex issue like change

simple story for

all

management and

to understand. This

book

that took a

distilled is

it

down

com-

into a

the ideal follow-on to

leading Change and The Heart of Change. one dealing with managing change."

A must-read for any-

—

Richard J. Kosinski Category Development Officer Yahoo, Inc.

''Our Iceberg

Is

Melting

is

fantastic

—

offbeat, but right on.

should make everyone in Washington, D.C., read

We

it."

— John Batten Executive Vice President

Twin Disc,

Inc.

"I

came

across

Our Iceberg Is Melting in May, ordered and

dis-

its effect on our change hundred more copies in Septem-

tributed sixty copies in June, evaluated effort,

ber.

and then ordered

This

is

five

a gem."

— Heidi King Program Manager Department of Defense

"This

is

the easiest-to-read yet

most informative book

I

have

ever seen. Setting one of management's biggest challenges

what problem,

I

don't see a problem'

—

in the context of a

melting iceberg and a determined penguin was a stroke of sheer genius."

— Michael Dimelow Director, Product Marketing

TTP Communications PLC "I

have followed Kotter's work for years, respect

with

my clients,

and know

its

organizations perform better. This latest effort

guin

tale

—

is,

in

my opinion,

it

greatly, use

it

unique power to help people and the best

—

and most

this little

usefiil

pen-

book he

has ever written."

— Alan Frohman President

Frohman Associates

"As a result of the organization,

my sharing it with a few people in the moved quickly on several fronts. We are

book and

we have

galvanized to go ahead instead of further studying, ing,

and

so on.

It is

making

more

organiz-

a difference for us."

— Tom Curley President and

CEO

Associated Press

"It's

a great book.

and humorous way the key challenges of leading

a simple

change.

does an excellent job of communicating in

It

We

can easily identify with the characters.

It

allows a

light-hearted discussion of very difficult issues."

— Deb Karstetter Executive Vice President

ABD "When French

I

was a child

classic

The

me

in France,

Little Prince.

while in college and that keeps

Insurance

many

I I

was

Financial Services

first

introduced to the

reread this marvelous

times since as an adult.

growing and thinking.

Melting becoming The

&

I

It is

a

book book

can see Our Iceberg

Is

Little Prince for the twenty-first century."

— Stephan Bancel General Manager Eli Lilly, Belgium

"My

and when

Meltingy it.

When

I

left

the

she was done,

talked about

and

saw

fifteen-year-old daughter

it.

What

I

book

my

suspect will

story to use, one that's easy to

it's

reading

wife read

especially with our daughter,

when we

me

in the den, she

is

it.

Our

Iceberg

we now have

remember and

discuss issues about change.

It

we

Afterward,

happen with our

that

Is

began to read all

family,

a referent

visually salient,

has 'stickiness' in that

hard to forget."

— Peter Z. Orton, Ph.D. Program Director, Special Projects

IBM On Demand Learning "In this fast-paced world, with piles of data this

book

to read,

is

and

a breath of fresh filled

with

my mind reflecting on the future

on the

air. It is

many

ideas that

the past

and written

material,

simple and to the point, easy

we can

all

apply.

I

found

on one page and thinking about

next."

— Edward Day Executive Vice President

Southern Company Generation

Our Iceberg Is Melting Changing and Succeeding

Under Any Conditions

by

John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber with artwork by Peter Mueller

St.

Martin's Press

^

New

York

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING. Copyright 2005 by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber.

Foreword copyright United

© by Spencer Johnson, M.D. No

States of .-Vmerica.

part of this

.AJl

rights resersed. Printed in the

book may be used

manner whatsoever without written permission except embodied

tions

n5

Press,

Fifth

in critical articles or reviews.

Avenue,

New York,

or reproduced in any

in the case

of brief quota-

For information, address

St.

Martins

X.Y. 10010.

w^^-w.stmartins.com

Library-

Kotter,

Our

of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

John P, 1947iceberg

is

melting

:

changing and succeeding under any conditions

Kotter and Holger Rathgeber p.

—

/

John

1st St. Martin's Press ed.

cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36198-3

ISBN- 10: 0-31 2-36 198-X 1.

Organizational change.

Fiction.

I

2.

Organizational effectiveness.

3.

Penguins

title

HD58.8 .K6^2 2006 650.1—dc22 2006043101

First

published in the United States by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber under the

title

Our Iceberg Is

10 9 8 7 6 5

Melting: Changing

and Succeeding Under Adverse Conditions

Foreword By Spencer Johnson, M.D. Author of

WhoMo^ed My Cheese?"

Coauthor of The

On the surface, But that

is

is

I

easy to read

just the tip

Working with John School,

wonderful book appears to be

this

a simple fable that

®ne Minute Manager

and understand.

of the proverbial iceberg.

Kotter, at the

learned that he

Harvard Business

knows more about chang-

ing organizations than anyone, anywhere. Leaders

and managers around the world have read

his

highly respected book, Leading ChangCy and have discovered that using his Eight Steps

way

is

the best

to ensure a successful organizational change.

What

does that have to do with most of us?

Well, with

Our Iceberg Is Meltingy everyone work-

ing in any kind of organization

people

—can now

discover

—and

how

that

to use the

is

most

same

FOREWORD

I

IX

Eight Steps, and enjoy more success in these

changing times.

Professor Kotter

and

Holger Rathgeber,

his equally creative

let

us see

how

coauthor

a group of

penguins, in adverse conditions, use the steps,

seemingly without knowing

Whether you work life,

it.

in a business, or the business of

everyone from CEO's to high school students,

can gain from what each takes from

As you enjoy reading what to ask yourself,

what

"What

is

my

can

I

And

then consider sharing

use

I

follows,

and how

discover in the story?"

it

with others you work

things usually turn out better

all,

everyone

on the same page.

FOREWORD

you may want

'iceberg,'

with. After is

this story.

when

Our Iceberg Is Melting

Welcome Handle the challenge of change prosper gready. Handle

it

well,

poorly,

and you can

and you put

yourself and others at risk

All too often people

and organizations don't

see the

need for change. They don't correctly identify what to do, or successfully stick.

make

it

happen, or make

it

Businesses don't. School systems don't.

Nations don't.

We have studied the challenge of change for decades. We know the traps into which even very smart people fall. We know the steps that can assure group success.

And we

will

show you what

we have found.

Our method

is

showing,

much more

and showing with the method

more people

than

telling,

that has helped

learn over the centuries than

any

other single technique: the fable.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

|

3

Fables can be powerful because they take serious,

confusing, and threatening subjects and

them

clear

make

and approachable. Fables can be memo-

rable, unlike so

much

bards us today and

of the information that bomforgotten tomorrow.

is

They

can stimulate thought, teach important lessons,

and motivate anyone lessons. In

—young

or old

simple yet profound truth.

The

fable that follows

ter

award-winning research on

change

really

was inspired by John Kot-

If you

Few of us encounter

ways of dealing well with those

know much about

for

find

it

our penguins

on

a National

^Antarctica

is

highly

issues.

the setting in which

—

have placed our story life

how succesful

happens. All of us encounter the

basic issues in the story. effective

to use those

our modern, high-tech world, we can

easily forget this

s

—

—

not exactly

as

we

you'll see that

you would

Geographic documentary.

Fables are like that. If you think a fun story with illustrations

soon see

this

must be

book

is

for

young

about

children, you'll

real-life

problems that

frustrate nearly everyone in organizations.

4

I

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

For readers

who would

prefer to begin

about the history of this book,

its

by learning

intellectual

underpinnings, the Eight Step change method, or exactly

how

this fable

era of change,

the story

can help you succeed in an

we have

on page 128.

placed that material after If that doesn't feel

needed

now, just find a comfortable chair and read on.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

Our Once upon

Iceberg Will Never Melt

a time a colony of penguins

in the frozen Antarctic call

The It

was

living

on an iceberg near what we

today Cape Washington.

had been there

iceberg

was surrounded by

surface were

for

many many years.

a sea rich in food.

On

its

huge walls of eternal snow that gave

penguins shelter from dreadful winter storms.

As

far

back

as

any of the penguins could

remember, they had always lived on that iceberg. "This

is

our home," they would

tell

you

if you

could ever find their world of ice and snow.

They would

also say, quite logically

from

perspective, "and this will always be our

6

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

their

home."

Where in the

they hved, a waste of energy

colony

to survive. other.

knew

Everyone

they needed to huddle together

So they had learned

They

kills.

to

depend on each

often behaved like a big family (which,

of course, can be both good and bad).

The

birds were truly beautiful. Called

Emperor

Penguins, they were the largest of seventeen types of Antarctic animals that to

seem perpetually

wear tuxedos.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MEITINC,

7

Two hundred sixty-eight penguins Uved colony. One of them was Fred. Fred looked and acted

You would probably or "dignified," unless

But Fred was

much

describe

you

different

like the others.

him

as either "cute"

really dislike animals.

from most penguins

one very important way.

8

in the

JOHN KOTTER AXD HOLGER RATHGEBER

in

Fred was unusually curious and observant.

Other penguins went hunting sea

—

for creatures in the

quite necessary, since there was

in Antarctica. Fred fished less

iceberg

and the

no other food

and studied the

sea more.

Other penguins spent much of their time with

and

friends

and

He

father,

relatives.

Fred was a good husband

but he socialized

frequently

less

than average.

went off by himself to take notes

on what he had observed.

You might think

was an odd

that Fred

bird,

perhaps the sort of penguin that others did not

want

to

true.

Fred was just doing what seemed right to

spend time with. But that wasn't

him. As a

result,

really

he was becoming increasingly

alarmed by what he saw.

Fred had a briefcase stuffed ideas, fable.)

and conclusions.

full

of observations,

(Yes, a briefcase.

The information was

This

is

a

increasingly disturbing.

The information was beginning

to cry out:

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

The

Iceberg

Melting and Might

Is

Break Apart Soon!! An

iceberg that suddenly collapsed into

pieces

would be

especially if

it

a disaster for the penguins,

occurred during the winter in a

storm.

Many of the

would

surely die.

older and younger birds

Who

could say what

consequences would be? Like events, there

many

was no plan

for

all

all

the

unthinkable

how

to deal

with

such a catastrophe.

Fred did not panic

easily.

his observations, the

But the more he studied

more he became unnerved.

knew he had to do something. But he was no position to make any pronouncements or

Fred in

dictate

how

others should act.

the leaders of the colony. brother, or father of

colony.

And

He was

He wasn't

even a son,

one of the leaders of the

he had no track record

as a credible

iceberg forecaster.

10

not one of

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Fred also remembered

how

fellow-penguin Harold

had been treated when he once suggested

home was becoming more seemed

interested,

Harold

fragile.

When

that their

no one

tried to assemble

some

evidence. His efforts were greeted with:

"Harold, you really do worry too much.

Have

a squid, you'll feel better."

Jump up and down Harold. Have fifty of us jump up and down at "Fragile?!

time.

same

the

Does anything happen? Huh?"

"Your observations are fascinating Harold. But they can be interpreted in four very different ways. You see, if

one makes the assumption..."

Some

birds said nothing, but they began to treat

Harold

differently.

had seen

it.

It

was

The change was definitely not a

subtle,

change

but Fred

for the

better.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

11

Fred found himself feeling rather lonely.

12

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

What Do

I

Do Now?

The colony had a Leadership Council. It was also called the Group of Ten, led by the Head Penguin. (The teenagers had another name for the group, but

that's

another

story.)

Alice was one of the ten bosses. She was a tough, practical bird

who had

a reputation for getting

things done. She was also close to the colony,

unlike a few of her peers

Actually aloof,

all

who were more

aloof

of their breed of penguins look a

but they don't

all

bit

behave that way.

Fred decided that Alice would be to dismiss his story than other

less likely

more

senior

penguins. So he went to see her. Alice being Alice,

he did not have to schedule an appointment.

Fred told her of his studies and his conclusions.

She listened

carefully,

she wondered personal

if

even though, frankly,

Fred was having some sort of

crisis.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

13

14

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

But. .Alice being Alice, she did not ignore Fred. .

Instead, she said, skeptically, "Take

that

you think most

That

"place"

iceberg,

to the place

shows the problem."

clearly

was not on the upper surface of the

where the melting and

were hard to

me

see,

Fred explained

its

consequences

but underneath and inside.

this to Alice.

She

being the most patient of birds,

listened,

and not

said, "Fine, fine,

fine. Let's go."

Penguins are vulnerable

when

they leap into the

and

whales hide

water because leopard

seals

to catch careless birds.

Without going

unpleasant graphic really don't

leopard

want

seal.

killer

into any

detail, let's just say that

to be caught

by a

killer

you

whale or

So when Fred and Alice jumped into

the sea, they were instinctively careful.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

15

Below the

surface, Fred pointed out fissures

and

symptoms of deterioration caused by melting. Alice was amazed at how she had manother dear

aged to ignore these

signs.

Alice continued to follow Fred as he turned into a large hole at a sidewall of the iceberg.

canal a few meters wide, they

heart of the filled

ice,

Through

swam deep

eventually reaching a spacious cave

Alice tried to look as

specialty,

if

she totally understood

seeing, but leadership

was her

not the science of icebergs. Fred saw

the perplexed look. So

when

they returned to

the surface, he explained.

16

into the

with water.

what she was

a

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

—

?

To make

a long story short

The bergs can have The canals can lead to

Icebergs are not like ice cubes. cracks inside called canals.

large air bubbles called caves. If the ice melts sufficiently, cracks

can be exposed to water, which

would then pour During

into the canals

a cold winter, the

and

caves.

narrow canals

filled

with water can freeze quickly, trapping water inside the caves. But as the temperature goes lower and lower, the water in the caves will also freeze.

Because a freezing liquid dramatically expands in

volume, an iceberg could be broken into

After a few minutes, Alice began to see

Fred was so deeply concerned. the problem could be.

.

pieces.

why

The magnitude of

.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

17

This was most definitely not good. Alice was shaken, though she didn't

show

it.

Instead, she asked Fred question after question.

"I

need

to think

about what you have shown me,"

she told him, "and then quickly talk with a few

of my fellow leaders." Her mind was already plotting away.

"I will

"I

need your

need you

feel

assistance," she told Fred.

to be prepared to help others see

the problem." After a short pause, she added,

"And be prepared

that

some

birds won't

want

any problem."

Alice bid Fred good-bye. Fred

felt

both better

and worse.

18

and

TOHX KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

to see

Better

—He was no longer

who saw

the only penguin

the potential for disaster.

only penguin

who

felt a

He

wasn't the

sense of urgency to

do

something about the problem.

Worse

—He did not

he did not

much

yet see

like the

any solution.

way Alice had

And

said

"be prepared" and "some birds won't want to see

any problem."

The awful Antarctic winter was only two months away.

^ ^ ^ iCJjk

^iix

>Ctk

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MEI.TINC

Problem? What Problem? During the next few

days, Alice contacted

all

members of the Leadership Council, including Louis, the Head Penguin. She asked them to go on the journey she had taken with Fred. Most listened to her.

But they were very

skeptical.

Was

Alice hav-

ing a personal problem, perhaps with her marriage?!

None of those with whom Alice spoke showed any enthusiasm about the idea of swimming into a big dark cave.

A few Council members

find time to see Alice.

They

could not even

said that they

were

busy with other important matters. They were dealing with a complaint from a rather loud bird that another penguin was

back

(a

somewhat confusing

cannot make

20

making

faces

issue since

faces).

lOHX KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

behind

his

penguins

They were

also debating

meetings should

last

whether

me

said

—

am

I

to invite Fred

Council meeting

his conclusions. "After

about him,

in hearing

liked jabbering

Head Penguin,

to the next Leadership

told

who

not.

Alice asked Louis, the

and defend

weekly

two or two and one-half

hours, a hot issue for those

and those who did

their

what Fred has

to present

what you have

certainly very interested to say," the

Head Penguin

diplomatically.

Louis did not, however, schedule time for a presentation by this relatively

who had leaders.

never before spoken to the group of

But Alice was

that they

had

bravely done less,

unknown penguin

insistent,

to take

some

your

life."

all

and Louis was

reminding her boss

risks,

"which you have

That was

true,

more or

flattered to hear Alice say so

(even though her motives were pretty obvious).

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTINC,

21

The Head Penguin In preparation for

agreed to invite Fred. Alice did.

liis

meeting with the

leaders,

Fred considered writing a speech in which he

would their

give statistics about the shrinking size of

home, the

canals, the caves filled

with water,

number of fissures obviously caused by melting, and so on. But when he asked a few of the older members of the colony about the Group of the

Ten, he learned that:

•

Two

of the birds on the Leadership Council

loved to debate the validity of any

And

statistics.

they loved to debate for hours and hours

and hours and hours. These two were the more vocal advocates lobbying for longer meetings.

One

of the Leadership Council members would

usually close

fall

asleep

—during

—

or at least

come

a long presentation

awfully

with

His snoring could be disruptive.

22

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

statistics,

Another bird was very uncomfortable with numbers.

He

nodding

tried to hide his feehngs, usually his

head

a great deal. All the

by

head nod-

ding tended to annoy some other members of the group,

which could lead

to

bad moods and

bickering.

•

At

least

two other Council members made

it

pretty clear that they did not like to be

TOLD

much

job to be

of anything. They saw

doing the

After the

much

it

as their

TELLING.

thought, Fred chose an approach to

upcoming meeting

that

was

different

from

his

original plan.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MEITINC;

23

Fred constructed a model of their iceberg. four feet by five feet and

The

made of real

ice

It

was

and snow.

construction was not easy for Fred (especially

since he

had no hands,

fingers,

and opposable

thumbs).

When

he was done, Fred knew

But Alice thought definitely

it

was a very

good enough

it

was not

perfect.

creative idea

and

to help the leaders begin to

see the problem.

The night before the meeting, Fred and his friends moved the model to where the leadership team met, which, unfortunately, was on the highest

Halfway up the hill, the grumbling began. "Remind me why I'm doing this" was one of the kinder comments from his mountain of the

iceberg.

friends.

24

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

If penguins

could grunt and groan, there would

have been plenty of both.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

25

The

next morning, the leaders were aheady

standing around the model

Some were engaged

when Fred

in a lively debate.

arrived.

Others

looked mystified.

Alice introduced Fred to the group.

Louis started the meeting,

as the

Head Penguin

we want to hear about your discovery." Fred bowed respectfully. He could sense openness firom Louis and some members of the group. Others seemed neutral. A few made little always did. "Fred,

effort to hide their skepticism.

Fred gathered his thoughts

—and courage—and

then told the story of his discovery.

He

explained

the methods he had devised to study their

He

described

how he had found

the deterioration,

the open canals, the big exposed cave

—

water

26

all

home.

full

of

of which had to be caused by melting.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Constantly Fred used the model to orient his audience and

illustrate his points. All

the Leadership Council penguins

but one of

moved

closer to

the model.

When show

Fred removed the top half of the structure to

the big cave

and explain

you could have heard

its

disastrous impact,

a snowflake falling

on the

ground.

When was

the demonstration was completed, there

silence.

Alice started the discussion by saying, "I saw all is

this

with

huge.

It's

my own scary.

destruction that

I

eyes.

saw

all

The

cave

full

of water

the other signs of

must be caused by the melting.

We cannot ignore this anymore!"

A few penguins nodded.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTINc;

27

One

of the Leadership Council members was an

older, heavyset bird

named NoNo. NoNo was

responsible for weather forecasting. There were two

One was had been called NoNo.

theories as to the origin of his his great grandfather

Another theory was that

name.

his first

words

as a

that

baby

penguin were not "Ma" or "Pa," but "No, No."

NoNo was wrong

accustomed to being blamed

in his

weather

forecasts,

but

about the iceberg melting was too spoke up, barely able to control "I

have regularly reported to

of melting during

I

this

he saw, or thinks he saw,

He

my

group about effect

is

are

on our

common.

to normal.

What

nothing new. There

iceberg

is

solid

and

can withstand such fluctuations!"

28

for him.

have told you before, periods

warm summers

Our

much

its

During winter, everything returns

reason to worry!

this business

his emotions.

observations of the climate and iceberg," he said. "As

for being

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

is

strong,

no and

Each sentence from the

last.

they

NoNo

came out louder than If penguins could become red faced, which

can't,

he would have been red faced.

Maybe...

THE ICEBERG IS NOT MELTING!!

should back up before he explodes, I

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

29

When NoNo

saw that the support of some of the

others was turning in his favor, he pointed to Fred

and

said dramatically:

''This Junior bird says melting ice has

canal.

But maybe

it

freeze this winter

hasnt.

and

it

will freeze.

But maybe

wont!

says the canal will

trap the water in a big cave.

He

But maybe

He

opened that

says the water in the cave

it

will not!

He

says freezing

water always expands in volume. But maybe hes

wrong! And even is

our iceberg

he says turns out to be

really so fragile that freezing

a cave can break

How do

if all

it

water in

into dangerously small pieces?

we know what he says

is

—a

not just

Wild speculation? Fearmongering?!!!''

30

true,

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

theory?

NoNo

paused, glared at the others, and threw what

he hoped was a knock-out punch:

"Can he guarantee that

his

data

and conclusions

are

100 percent accurate^'' Four of the birds nodded.

become

mad

as

as

One seemed

to have

NoNo.

Alice quietly shot Fred an encouraging look that basically said: things are fine

not

true),

clear),

for her

you can handle

now just

this

(which was not

at all

go ahead and reply calmly (which

would have been

to scream,

(which she knew was

"NoNo, you

difficult since she

wanted

nitwit!").

Fred said nothing. Alice gave him another encouraging look.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

31

Fred hesitated, then

you

give sure.

said,

a guarantee.

No,

"Honestly, no. I

am

I

cannot

not 100 percent

But should our melting iceberg break into

many pieces,

it

will

be in winter,

both day and night, when the

when

terrible

it is

dark

storms and

winds make us most vulnerable. Wouldn't many,

many

Two

of us die?"

of the birds standing near Fred seemed

horrified.

"Wouldn't

He it

looked in their direction and

happen?"

Seeing that most of the Leadership Council

appeared to be very skeptical, Alice gave

hard look and

said:

children. Imagine

'How

could

doing?

32

said,

this

"Imagine parents

them coming

have happened?

to us

still

NoNo

who

a

lost their

and asking,

What were you

Why didn't you foresee this crisis?

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

It

was your job

you

tell

there

to protect the colony!'

them? 'Well,

might be

yes, sorry.

We

What would

had heard

that

a problem, but the information

was

not 100 percent credible.'"

let

her

comments

"What would we

tell

them

She paused to

us in unspeakable pain.^ a tragedy

as

sink

they stood before

That we had hoped such

would not happen? That

appropriate to act until

in.

was not

it

we were 100

percent sure?"

Again, snowflakes could almost be heard crashing

onto the ground.

Beneath her dignified

exterior, Alice

was so angry

she wanted to take the ice model and throw

it

at

NoNo.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

33

Louis, the group's

Head Penguin,

mood. He

noticed a change in the

said, "If

Fred

is

correct,

we

then

only have the remaining two months until winter begins to react to this threat."

One

of the other penguin leaders

form

a

said,

"We need

committee from members of this team

to

to

analyze the situation and look into possible solutions."

Many of the

birds

nodded

in agreement.

Another one of them told the group,

must do everything

"Yes,

but

we

possible so that the colony's

Our chicks need a lot of food now to grow, and we need to avoid confusion. So, we must keep this a secret until we have worked routines remain intact.

out a good solution."

34

JOHN KOTTER AXD HOLGER RATHGEBER

Alice cleared her throat loudly, then spoke with a steely resolve.

a

"When we

committee and trying

unpleasant news isfaVyfar

The

from

to protect our colony

what we normally

mind

do.

But

from this

normal problem."

others looked at her.

everyone's line

a

is

have a problem, forming

The unasked

question on

was: Where was she going with this

of reasoning?

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

35

Alice said,

"We must

immediately

call a

assembly of the colony and convince possible that there

enough of our

a big problem.

is

friends

and

families

we have a chance of finding many will accept." that

Normally penguins behave manner, especially penguins birds

if

as

general

many

We must get

on our

side so

a solution that

in quite a controlled

they are Leadership Council

sitting in a meeting.

went completely

wild,

But

all

now a few

talking at the

of the

same

time.

"An assembly!!" have we..." ".

36

.

".

"... a

.

.the risk

is.

.

." ".

.

.never

panic..." "...no, no, no..."

.and what would

as

we

say?"

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

MUST keep Worrying them

is

VERY bad!

\

this a secret!

^

PANIC!! Don't want to panic anyone!

It

"I

was not a pretty

sight.

have an idea," Fred said cautiously. "Would you

give

me

The

others said nothing. Fred took that to be a

yes

—

a few^ minutes, please?

I

w^on't

be long."

or at least not a no.

OUR

ICHBHRC,

IS

MELTING

|

37

He moved

as

quickly as possible

down

the

mountain, found what he wanted, and climbed

back up. The Group of Ten birds were jabbering once again. They stopped when Fred arrived with a glass bottle.

f

"What's

38

this?"

asked Alice.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

dont

"I it

really

know," Fred

said.

"My

father

found

one summer washed up to the edge of our

berg.

He

It

looks like

much

it is

harder than ice and

warms up but Everyone

"Perhaps

not

top,

it

made from tip

ice."

of his beak.

if you sit

on

it, it

doesn't melt."

stared. So...?

we could

and place

row we can

see if

expanding water

Fred paused

way through

He

but

pecked on the bottle with the

"It's

on

ice,

ice-

fill it

it

seal the

in the cold wind.

hole

Then tomor-

broken by the force of the

it is

as

with water,

it

freezes."

as the rest

of the group worked their

the logic of his statements.

continued. "And

if it doesn't

break apart, then

perhaps you should not rush ahead and

call

an

assembly of the colony."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

39

Alice was fascinated. Risky, she thought to herself,

but

this bird clever or what?!

is

NoNo

suspected

And maybe Louis, the

it

it

was a

would stop

trick all

the foolishness.

Head Penguin, looked

made his judgment. He "Then let it be done."

Louis

And

but saw no easy out.

told the others,

they did.

Louis put water into the bottle.

bone that was

fish

penguin

who

He

sealed

just the right size.

bottle to Buddy, a quiet

And

NoNo.

at

He

it

with a

gave the

and boyishly handsome

everyone seemed to

like

and

trust.

then they dispersed.

Fred was always willing to stick his neck out necessary,

though

it

inevitably

made him

if

nervous.

So he did not sleep particularly well that night.

40

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

The

when Buddy climbed up the were there looking down at him.

next morning the others

hill, all

When

he reached the top, one of the birds

said,

"Well?"

Buddy produced from

ice that

was

Buddy

clearly

to

fit

broken

inside.

told them.

birds jabbered for half an hour. All except

course,

two

One of the two, of was NoNo. "You may be onto something"

said that they

he

It

had grown too big

"I'm convinced,"

The

the bottle.

needed

to act.

said, "but..."

He was more Louis

said,

assembly.

or less ignored.

"Let the others

Do

not

tell

them

jcfck

>q5
i±k

t^

know we

will

have an

the topic yet."

scbc 'q^«

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

41

The

colony's birds were curious about the reason

for the assembly.

ship Council

which

built

Nearly

all

But Alice made sure the Leader-

members kept

up

a bit of interest

is

showed

the adults

was about normal

"Felix

their beaks shut

getting

life

fat.

on

and suspense.

up.

Most of the

talk

their iceberg.

Too much

fish,

too

little

exer-

cise.

"Where "Ahh,

is

he getting

now

that

is

all

the fish?"

an interesting

story."

Louis called the meeting to order and quickly

turned

42

it

over to Alice.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

—

Alice told of her

swim with

Fred, the

of melting, and the open cave

showed

his

filled

many

"

signs

with water. Fred

model of the iceberg and explained why

he thought they were in danger. Buddy told the story of the glass bottle.

guin,

And

ended the session by saying that

ion they had to

act,

Head Pen-

Louis, as

in his opin-

and though he was not sure

how, he was confident they would find a solution.

By

the time everyone

model and the

bottle

had up

and Alice questions, and the meeting

The

had

lasted

a chance to see the

close, to ask

to hear

both Fred

more from

most of the morning.

birds were stunned, even those

who normally

responded to anything by saying "well

The complacent

Louis,

sense that

all is

yes,

but

—

just fine-fine-fine-

thank-you began to drain into the vast ocean. Fred, Louis,

and Alice were

certainly not aware of

professional change experts they were not

it

—but by

reducing complacency and increasing urgency they

had taken exactly the

right

first

step in potentially

saving the colony.

When

the meeting broke up, the jabbering began.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

43

The is

iceberg

melting?

I

So enough with the talk. Let s do something.

never really liked Fred,

V

now I know why!

44 I

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Stop complaining about missing lunch.

Harvey, be

THINK!!

real.

Winter is only a few months away!!

]

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

45

Cannot

I

The

Do

next morning a friend of NoNo's

Louis. Penguins can slide it

the Job Alone

on

Head

Penguin,

it

was

Louis's

up

their stomachs,

He

looks bizarre to humans.

slid

to

though

suggested that as the

DUTY to solve the

melting iceberg problem by himself "That's what leaders do.

The

You

You need no

are a great leader.

help."

bird then slid (one might say slithered) away.

Another penguin suggested that Louis delegate the problem ice.

to the

young

birds

who were

the experts

on

Louis pointed out, patiently, that those birds

had no

credibility in the colony,

leadership

skills,

were not well said,

had no known

were very inexperienced, and a few

liked.

The

bird

making

this suggestion

"So what's your point?"

Louis thought about what next step he should take,

then called Alice, Fred, Buddy, and a penguin

named Jordan

to a quiet spot

of the iceberg. Jordan was since he to

an

46 I

was the

on the northwest

known

as the "Professor"

closest the Leadership

intellectual. If a university

side

Council had

were located on

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

their iceberg,

Jordan would have been a tenured

member of the

faculty.

The Head Penguin

said,

of birds to guide

through

it

"The colony needs

cannot do the job alone. the best

Alice

team

nodded

fused. Fred

I

a team

this difficult period.

I

believe the five of us are

for the task ahead."

Buddy looked conthat he, a more junior

ever so slightly.

was surprised

penguin, was being included. But the Professor was the

first

to speak.

"Why do you make

the assumption that the five of

us can succeed?" he asked.

Louis nodded in his normal patient manner. Alice

hid her

irritation. If she

she didn't, she

had had

a watch,

would have been looking

which

at

it

while

tapping her foot.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

47

"It is a

said.

reasonable question," the

"Look

at the five

challenge clearly.

Head Penguin

of us, Professor. Define the

Make

a

list

in

your mind of each

of our strengths. Deduce an answer to your

own

question."

Louis never talked this way, except

when he was

speaking to the Professor.

Jordan looked off toward the horizon. If you could have heard the thoughts flashing through his penguin brain, they would have been something

like

this:

•

Louis.

Head Penguin. Enough

wise. Patient. tered.

experience to be

A bit conservative.

Respected by almost

all

Not

except

easily flus-

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)

48

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

•

Buddy. Boyishly handsome. Not the sHghtest bit ambitious.

your wife

Well trusted and liked (maybe

likes

him

too much). Definitely not

an intellectual heavyweight.

•

Fred. Younger.

Amazingly curious and

creative.

Level-headed. Nice beak. Insufficient data to

judge his I.Q.

•

Me. Logical

(actually,

very logical). Well read.

Fascinated by interesting questions.

•

most

social

want

to be a social bird?

Thus,

if

Buddy

C The say

+

the

is

of birds, but then

Head Penguin

C, Fred

D+ E

is

D, and

the

why would anyone

is

A, Alice

I

am

is

E, then

B,

A+

B

+

clearly equals a strong group.

Professor turned to Louis

is

Not

remarkably

and

said,

"What you

logical."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

49

Buddy looked really

confused, as he often did.

He

never

understood the Professor, but he trusted

Louis. Alice s irritation calmed a bit as she was once

again reminded of why the

Head Penguin was

the

Head Penguin. Fred couldn't imagine what went on in the Professor s head. But like Alice

and Louis, Fred

sensed they were on the right track. privileged to be

of senior

They

working with

also felt

this talented

group

birds.

spent the rest of the day together.

versation was difficult at

"I

He

The con-

first:

wonder by what percentage our home

is

shrink-

ing each year," the Professor said at one point.

"I

once read that a bird named Vladiwitch created a method..."

50

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

coughed

Alice

twice. Loudly.

intensely at Louis, she said,

concentrate on what

we

While

staring

"Maybe we should

are going to

do tomor-

row."

Buddy

said softly, "I'm sure

Mr. Vladiwitch was a

very nice bird."

The

Professor nodded, pleased that

joining his conversation, even

if it

Louis redirected the dialogue.

"I

help

if

we

all

someone was

was only Buddy.

think

closed our eyes for a

it

would

moment."

Before the Professor could question the relevance

of eye closing, the Head Penguin

said, "Please don't

ask why. Tolerate an old bird's suggestion. This will

only require a minute."

The

others,

one

after the other, closed their eyes.

OUR

ICHBHRC;

IS

MKLTINCi

|

5

r Louis said, "With your eyes shut, point After a

moment

"Now open

of hesitation,

all

did

so.

your eyes," he told them.

Buddy, the Professor, Fred, and Alice different directions.

upward toward the

52

east."

all

Buddy even pointed sky.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

pointed in slightly

Alice sighed, intuitively sensing the problem. Professor said, "Ah, yes, fascinating." Fred

Buddy was

ever so slightly.

The

—

that

individuals

work

as a

is

nodded

lost.

Professor said, "You see, for us,

additive

The

A+B

is

more capable than two

to say,

by themselves

—only

if

A and

B can

we responded to Louis's task He did not say we couldn't work

team. Yet

as individuals.

together, could not talk or touch each other.

You

see,

Flotbottom's theory of group.

The Head Penguin

." .

interrupted the speech by

raising his wing, then saying

"Would anyone

like

squid for lunch?" This stopped the overweight professor,

whose grumbling stomach

his brain.

Buddy said, "What

Penguins

LOVE squid,

come

in sizes ranging

Jules Verne's

—

Sea

trumped

a great idea."

those sea creatures that

from

as large as a

bus

—

like

monster in 20, 000 Leagues Under the

to smaller than a

so liked

easily

mouse. But the tiny squid

by the penguins

They will shoot

a very

are tricky little devils.

unappealing

jet

OUR ICEBERG

IS

of black ink

MELTING

53

at a predator

and then zoom away. So

in a

one

squid versus one penguin matchup, the squid can easily win. Penguins,

having discovered

this

problem many, many years ago, had found a

hunt squid

solution:

in groups.

Louis jumped into the sea

quickly followed by

first,

the others. Although penguins wobble awkwardly

back and forth on land Chaplin nary

—

skill

—looking

in the water they

and

grace.

a bit like Charlie

move with

They can

extraordi-

dive a third of a mile

beneath the surface, stay under water for up to

twenty minutes, and maneuver better than a

$250,000 Porsche. But... extraordinary individual capabilities

The

first

do not a squid

catch.

squid they encountered actually escaped.

But soon the penguins learned well

—

to

work

together

coordinating their movements, surrounding

the lunch. Eventually,

enough food

for everyone

was

found, even for the Professors rather large appetite.

After a satisfying meal, Louis led a discussion that rarely five

touched on the melting iceberg or what the

of them needed to do next. Instead he focused

OHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

on

life,

They

The

loved ones, and their hopes and dreams.

talked for hours.

Professor was disinclined to just talk about

life

without structure around the conversation to give it

some RIGOR. So he kept

and

iceberg. Fred finds

it.

group. Goes to Alice

The

ice

model. The

work

brain

let his analytical

Tough first.

beak shut

his

sell

quietly.

to a

complacent

Shows her the problem.

bottle.

The group

Complacency reduced. Louis

meeting.

picks group to guide

the effort. Interesting makeup. Turning into

team with squid and

Melting

nonteam

talk.

All rather strange, but fascinating.

The

next morning, Louis kept

would have

liked a

month

them

together.

He

to turn the five birds into

a close-knit team. But he did not have a

month. So

he did the best he could, and within two days the penguins certainly looked

much

less like

individuals

pointing in different directions. Louis had largely

succeeded in taking the

difficult

but essential step of

pulling together a team to guide the needed change.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

55

56 I

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

i

•f

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

57

The An

Seagull

impatient Alice suggested they search rapidly

for solutions to their melting-iceberg

talking to others in the colony.

was not sure that talking

problem by

The Head Penguin

to others

was the best

next step, and the Professor definitely did not see the point. But after a constructive discussion, Alice prevailed.

One

bird

—who had

suggested they

the heart of a Texas oilman

drill a

hole from the surface

to the cave to let out water

would not

solve the

melting, but

it

more

and

down

pressure. This

general problem of the

might keep

home from

their

exploding during the upcoming winter. This drill-a-hole idea

was

briefly discussed before the

Professor pointed out that with

all

268

birds

pecking away 24 hours a day, they would break

through to the cave in 5.2

58

years.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Next.

Another bird suggested they find a perfect

No

iceberg.

melting, no exposed caves, no fissures, just

way so that their children and grandchildren would never, ever have to face a

wonderfiil in every

crisis like this again.

Perhaps

if

they appointed a

perfect-iceberg committee? Fortunately, Alice was

not around to hear

Another

this.

somehow move

idea:

the colony toward

the center of Antarctica where the ice

and

stronger.

Although none of the penguins

had any idea of the

size

of the continent

than one and a half times the States!

thicker

is

—one very

take us a long

size

—more

of the United

heavyset bird said, "Won't that

way from

water?

How will I

get

fish?"

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

59

Next.

One penguin on

the Leadership Council suggested

creating a sort of superglue out of killer- whale

blubber and using "real tight."

the

more

avert

He

to glue the iceberg together

it

admitted that

would not

general problem of melting, but

immediate

it

solve

might

disaster.

They were obviously

Then an

this

getting desperate.

older and highly respected

member of the

colony suggested that they try something new.

"Maybe you should do what Fred did when he found our

terrible

problem. Walk around, keeping your eyes

and minds open. Be

curious."

The Head

Penguin,

recognizing the need for a different approach, agreed.

"Lets try

it,"

he

said,

and so they

did.

They went west. They saw beautiful walls of snow. They saw families doing things families do. They overheard conversations about melting and

They

listened to birds

who needed

to share their

anxieties.

60

fish.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Then

after

an hour or

respectful way, said:

so, Fred, in his typically

"Up

there."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

61

Fred was looking there are

no

at a seagull. Since

normally

seagulls in Antarctica, they

A small, white,

all

stared.

flying penguin? Probably not.

"Fascinating," said the Professor. "I have a theory

about animals that

fly.

You

see

—

"

Before he

could continue, Alice tapped him on his shoulder.

He had learned tapping

him

in the prior

like that

two days that Alice

meant

"you're wonderful.

Professor, but please shut up,"

"What

is it?"

"I don't

know," Fred

said,

But

so cold here."

would

62

a

"but a bird

home on

must have

They agreed.

did.

asked Buddy.

ever. It it's

which he

the ground.

If the seagull tried to live

freeze as

hard

as a

can't fly for-

rock in

less

with them,

than a week.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

it

"

Fred continued, lost,

but

it

"I

way

it

it

could be very, very

does not seem to be afraid.

moving from one the

suppose

lived?

What

if

piece of land to another was just

What

.

if

it's

a.

.

Fred used the closest word penguins have for

nomad,

Alice said, "You aren't suggesting.

The Head Penguin

The

said, "I

.?" .

wonder."

Professor said, "Fascinating."

Buddy

said,

"I'm sorry, but what are you talking

about?"

The Head Penguin responded simply, a

"We

new and

are thinking

very different

to

Buddy by

saying,

about the possibility of

way of life."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

63

They

talked for hours and hours. If we.

How would we. we could. Why not. then.

.

.

.

Buddy

.

.

asked, "So

No, you

Just

see.

maybe.

.

.

But but

Yes,

.

said,

"We need

to think this

carefully."

Alice said,

The

?

.?

.

what do we do next?"

The Head Penguin through

.

.

.

"We need

to

move

fast."

Professor said, "But quality of thought

is

more

important than speed."

Alice continued, "First

we need

to learn

more

about that flying bird, and now."

The Head Penguin

agreed.

The

Professor

looking for something to write on.

went

64

Then

to search for the seagull.

TOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

went they

all

Fred had in

him

a bit of Sherlock

famous nonpenguin

detective.

Holmes, the

So within a half

hour, they found the seagull.

Alice whispered to Buddy, "Say 'hello' to the bird."

In the

warm and

Buddy

said, "Hi.

gentle voice that

This

"That's Louis, Fred,

The

is

Alice."

and the

came

He

pointed

Professor. I'm

what

are

you looking

Buddy."

seagull kept

its

looking for where

"And

distance, but did not fly away.

we might

I

fly

ahead of the clan

live next."

Professor began to ask questions

tions,

asked.

for here?"

Finally he said, "I'm a scout.

The

at her.

seagull just stared at them.

"Where do you come from?" Buddy

The

naturally.

—

useful ques-

though he did go off on tangents occasionally

(always brought back by

You-Know-Who).

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

65

In response, the seagull told the penguins of his clan's

nomadic

He

existence.

talked about

what

they ate (which, frankly, sounded to the penguins like just like to

He

about anything).

When

be a scout.

spoke of what

it

was

he began to turn blue and

have trouble speaking, he said good-bye and flew away.

The

Professor

and Buddy were not

totally

con-

vinced that what was appropriate for seagulls could possibly be right for penguins. "We're different."

"They seem

fly."

"We

.

different," Alice said

more diplomacy than

can't just

66

"They

to eat, well. .yuck."

"Of course we're ably

eat delicious fresh fish."

usual.

copy them. But the idea

with consider-

"That means we is

very interesting.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

I

can almost see

how we might

Hve.

We'd

learn to

We wouldn't stay in one place forever. We wouldn't try to fix melting icebergs. We would move around.

just face

go on

The

to the fact that

what

sustains us

cannot

forever."

Professor asked dozens of questions. Louis said

little

and

up

but thought a great deal about the discussion

its

implications.

Alice said, "I this idea as

wonder why someone

soon

as

we

didn't think of

realized that our iceberg

was

melting?"

The

Professor said, "Surely someone in the colony

did.

It is so... logical."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

67

The

Professor turned his head to the right.

What

he saw was:

Well, the Professor thought,

maybe

not.

The Head Penguin said, "After living one way for so long, why should it be easy to think of a whole new way of life?"

68

lOHX KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

:^

sCtk >Cp=

The

Professor realized that

sohd theory about

He had tion

why

iCtk

>i^

>q?

no one had

offered a

home was

melting.

their

been assuming that melting and degrada-

must have occurred slowly over

of time. But what

What

if

if that

a long period

weren't true?

something had caused the problem

suddenly? But what could that possibly be? Should

he have urged

his fellow

penguins to take more

time and be more systematic in thinking about their iceberg

problem? But there was so

little

time.

Unanswered questions disturbed the Professor greatly.

But that evening, he

under the circumstances.

He

slept

remarkably well

believed the team had

succeeded in creating a vision of a

one that seemed

how

plausible.

He was

they could create that future.

new

future,

and

beginning to see

He was

(oddly)

comforted that Louis, Alice, Fred, and Buddy were thinking the same way.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

69

70

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

»«

.

A nomad colony. Free,

.

with no fixed home.

We can learn from

- ^^m

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

71

Out

Getting the Message

following day, Louis called for a meeting at

The

noon of the

entire colony.

this point, nearly

As you would expect

everyone showed up

would be again no lunch

—

at

so there

for the increasingly des-

perate leopard seals.

An

energized Professor spent the entire

morning

preparing a sort of 97-slide PowerPoint presentation for Louis to use in vision.

communicating

The Head Penguin looked

their

over the mate-

which was very impressive, then gave

rial,

it

to

Buddy. After studying the Professor's work. Buddy said,

"I'm sorry, but I'm a

where he had become

on

slide #2. Alice

little lost."

stuck.

Buddy

Louis asked

told

him

it

was

shut her eyes and did deep

breathing exercises.

The Head Penguin looked

again at the presenta-

tion created by the Professor.

It

was, in

its

way,

beautifully done. But Louis kept thinking about

72

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

—

how difficult

it

would be

understand his message. birds

who were

tradition

to help the colony

How do you

talk to

anxious, preoccupied, skeptical,

bound, or unimaginative?

Louis decided he needed to try a different method,

even though

it

could be

risky.

He

did not like

risk,

but...

Louis began the colony's assembly by saying,

"Fellow penguins,

we to

as

—

definitely will

it is

remember who we

The crowd looked "Tell

me,

are

we meet

and

this challenge

more important than

ever

"

really are.

blankly at him.

we penguins who deeply

respect

one

another?"

There was

Then

silence until

someone

said,

"Of course."

others said, "Yes."

OUR

iC-

'IG IS

MELTING

73

NoNo was figure out

ous

yet,

in the

middle of the audience trying to

what scheme was

which he did not

Louis continued. "And do pline?" "Yes," said a

"And do we have too?"

It

we

strongly value disci-

dozen or so of the elderly

do we stand

for

that. It

many now

A loud

The Head Penguin

paused. "And

I

agreed.

"Yes!" followed.

tell

and shared values linked

me.

.

.are

to a large

piece oficeT

74

had been

brotherhood and the

love of our young?"

these beliefs

birds.

a strong sense of responsibility,

was hard to argue with

all,

was not obvi-

like.

true for generations. "Yes,"

"Above

afoot. It

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

when some up

not particularly bright birds, caught

in the yes-yes cadence, were again about to say

"Yes," Alice shouted

lowed by the younger

"NO!" She was

Professor, Fred,

birds.

quickly

fol-

and few of the

Then many penguins muttered

a

"No, no, no" to themselves.

"No," Louis agreed.

The

birds stood

guin.

Some

forcefully

"I'd like

after

still, all

didn't

—and

know

looking

at the

Head Pen-

that he could speak so

so emotionally.

you now

to listen to

another dramatic pause.

Buddy," Louis said

"He

story that inspired us to think of a

will tell

you

new and

a

better

way of life."

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

75

So Buddy started to scout for his clan.

good

tell

He

"He

the seagull's story:

a

explores the territory to find

places for his colony to

move

next. Imagine,

they are free! They go wherever they like to go. see,

is

You

many, many years ago, they..."

Buddy

told

what he knew of the history of the

way they lived now, and of the he had met. Buddy wasn't aware of it, but he

seagull clan, of the

bird

was a very good

When

storyteller.

he was done, the penguins had

questions.

Some of the

slower birds struggled with

the idea of a flying animal.

know

many

Some

just

wanted

every detail of what the seagull had said.

There were many

side discussions, especially about

"freedom" and a nomadic existence.

The

faster

birds were quick to see the vision without

being stated

76

to

explicitly.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

it

ever

Louis

let

on

the jabbering go

and asked

cleared his throat loudly

Then he

for a while.

for order.

When

the noise subsided, he told the crowd, with conviction,

"This iceberg

where we

now

live.

is

who we

not

We are smarter,

more capable than the

seagulls.

what they have done, and chained to us.

Let

it

this piece

melt to the

one thousand

pieces.

live that are safer.

again.

We will

from the

are. It is

better?

of ice. size

stronger,

why

can't

We are

of a

fish.

Let

it

we do

behind

break into

it

find other places to

necessary,

we

will

move

never have to put our families

sort of terrible

and

not

We can leave

We will

When

So

only

at risk

danger we face today.

WE

WILL PREVAIL!" NoNo's blood pressure

hit

240 over 160.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

77

[ By

the end of the meeting,

fully studied the eyes

were

•

see a

new way of

were convinced the vision had merit, and

relieved;

30 percent were digesting what they had heard

and

•

that:

30 percent of the colony could living,

could have care-

of the crowd, you would

probably have concluded

•

if you

seen;

20 percent were very confused;

•10

percent were skeptical but not hostile; and

•10

percent were like

all

NoNo, convinced

was

completely absurd.

The Head Penguin thought enough

78

this

for

to himself,

"good

now," and so he ended the meeting.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

.

Alice grabbed Fred, Buddy, said,

and the

Professor,

and

"Follow me." Being sensible birds, they did

She quickly explained her

latest idea: to

with slogans to be put on iceposters.

so.

come up

"We need

to

remind the birds of what they have heard, and remind them

ALL THE TIME. The

meeting

this

morning was brief Some of the colony were not here.

The message

communication

is

—

Buddy wondered,

radical.

We need much

more

everyday, everywhere."

aloud, "Will so

many posters

annoying to some of our friends?" Alice

be

replied,

"Given a choice between a few annoyed birds and a melting, exploding iceberg with screaming penguins

on

it,

I'd

choose annoyed." Put that way.

They began

creating posters.

At

first

.

they struggled.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

79

But with the help of some of the more birds

—some of whom were younger than

they quickly got the hang of it.

80 I

creative

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Fred-

Every day for a week, twenty penguins came up

with

new

tered

around the

find

and put them on

slogans

no more

iceberg.

When

iceposters scat-

the birds could

places for the posters, Alice suggested

they put them underwater next to the most popular

and productive

odd, but

(1)

fishing grounds.

a

little

penguins can see very clearly under-

water, (2) there were

no posters

when penguins look

for fish, they

their eyes,

Sounds

even

The dramatic

if

there, yet, (3)

cannot close

they are annoyed.

meeting, Louis's "we are not an

iceberg" speech. Buddy's storytelling about the seagull,

and

Alice's countless iceposters

have the desired

from

all,

came

effect.

to see

began to

Many birds, though

far

and accept what they had

to

do.

Communicating

the

new

vision of a

nomadic

life,

of a very different future, was for the most part

remarkably successful.

The colony had taken yet another big step You could tell just by watching the birds.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

forward.

MELTINC;

81

Hnnnmnini. A nomadic life versus sitting and dying on a melting and exploding iceberg. Seems clear

82

enough.

y^

"

tjc^j^i^ ^^^^

jj^

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

\\^^ ^^

Fm considering becoming a scout!

What take?

does

it

Do you get

more

fish?

p:^Ctk

5i±k

5l±k

rj^

After her chat with Buddy, the kindergarten teacher gathered her

them

tales

difficult

some

young students together

to

tell

of heroic action to help others under

and changing circumstances. She found

great stories. She told

them with enthusiasm.

She explained that the colony would be needing heroes to deal with

new

challenges,

and that any-

one, including the youngest of them, could help.

The

94

students loved

it.

TOHX KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

That same evening, most of the nightmares stopped.

The number of penguins

actively

working

in the

core group had dropped from thirty-five to eighteen.

But now,

removed, tic

as

as obstacles to

change were being

fewer and fewer of the more enthusias-

birds were feeling frustrated, distracted, or

erless,

the

numbers began

to rise again.

Louis calculated that they would need around birds to

do

quickly.

He

all

the

work

pow-

that

had

to be

fifty

completed

didn't have fifty yet, but at least the

trend was in the right direction.

^ ^ ^

>i±jt

"^P"

"fp"

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

95

Sally

Ann was just

a kindergarten student.

Her

new stories of heroic action. While waddling home from school, she saw Alice. As youngsters do when they don't know any mind was

better, she said,

filled

with

all

approached

"Excuse me.

the

this

important bird and

How can I

become

a hero?" Alice

stopped and looked

at her.

Preoccupied with the

melting, the general

mood

of the colony, and the

feeding-the-scouts problem, she barely heard the

The youngster repeated it. Instead of saying, "Just go home to your mother," Alice told her, "If you could make your parents understand that the Head Penguin needs their help, especially in question.

catching fish to feed the scouts, then you would be a true hero."

"That's all?" the

little

one

replied,

with

hopeful naivete of the young.

96

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

all

the

The

next day, the child talked to her friends, and

And from those discussions, idea was born of how the children could help

she had

an

many

the colony

friends.

make

a

nomadic

life

The

a reality.

kindergarten teacher canceled a few regular classes

idea to

—broke

some

a

few

structure.

Our Heroes

rules It

—and helped

came

give the

to be called "Tribute

Day."

Some parents were nervous about all Making everyone even the children, ,

this activity. feel

empow-

ered was unprecendented in the colony. But the chicks loved

it.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MEITINC;

97

But what about your nightmares!

98

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Oh,

they're gone.

Now Vm going to

help

the colony. She said

could

all

help,

we

Dad!

s

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

99

The Scouts Louis decided they would need evidence, and quickly, that their efforts were

So

his next step

elite

was

on the

right track.

to ask Fred to select a small,

group of athletic and highly motivated scouts,

coordinate their schedules, and send them off to search for potential

"The colony needs ble," the

new homes. to see progress as

Head Penguin

means

the

possible.

to help the scouts devise

to protect themselves.

one of those birds

as possi-

"And we must

told Fred.

do everything conceivable

soon

We

to return safely

Even one missing bird

need every

and

as fast as

will create

more

make NoNo's warnings more credible. Remember, they don't need to pick a new home, anxiety and

just find us a

The

few

possibilities."

scouts were organized

and

left

the next day.

Fred had chosen well. They were strong, bright,

and highly

100

I

enthusiastic.

lOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Life

was boring.

This

is

FUN.

Jane will be proud of me.

1 OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

101

The

toughest single challenge facing the colony

was gathering enough

fresh fish to feed the tired

and hungry scouts when they returned

home. They would each need immediately

—up

incredibly, a

penguin can

to twenty

a

to their

huge meal of fish

pounds worth which,

easily eat at

one

sitting.

But. .there was that very old tradition in the .

colony in which birds

(1)

shared their food with

their children, (2) shared their

food

ONLY with

their children.

So

who would

catch fish for the scouts?

Into the void of practical solutions

came

little

Ann, the kindergartner, with her "Tribute Heroes Day"

to

Our

idea.

The Heroes Day

Celebration would include a flea

market.

unusual price of admission: two

fish

per adult.

102

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

raf-

The

performances, a band, and a

fle,

Sally

The young parents.

birds explained the festive day to their

As you might imagine, some preoccupied

adults could not quite grasp ing,

some did not

like the idea

some were not even aware iceberg. Yet

what they were hear-

much

at all,

that scouts

many were proud

had

and the

left

of their children for

being creative in a time of need.

Still,

parents

felt

a bit

awkward. "You don't share

food, except with your children" was a very, very

old and established tradition. So the inspired

youngsters

made

it

clear that they

would be

extremely embarrassed unless (1) their parents to

Heroes Day, and

(2)

came

each mother and father

brought two

fish as the cost

As soon

few parents relented, announcing that

as a

they would be bringing

must

also. Social

colonies as in

fish,

of admission.

others decided they

pressure works as well in penguin

human

colonies.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

103

Louis scheduled Heroes

Day

to coincide with the

time the scouts were scheduled to return. From early in the

morning

until late in the afternoon, the

event was an astonishing success.

and other events were

raffle,

But the climax came

at the

The games, band,

great fun for everyone.

end, as the birds waited

for the scouts.

NoNo

make it back. "Whale food," he told as many as would listen to him. "The fools will get lost." Some birds nodded predicted half would never

their heads, so less.

he kept saying

He worked

it.

NoNo was

relent-

harder that day than he had in

years.

Some

in the colony

NoNo's

antics.

were nervous, quite apart from

Some were

still

skeptical about the

claims being made. All of which the day even

104

made

the end of

more dramatic.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Every single scout returned, one although a few looked door,

and one was

like

after the other,

they were at death s

seriously hurt. Alice

was

waiting with a well-organized crew to care for any injury.

Which

Almost tell

as

they did.

soon

amazing

tales

about the

long distances, and about seen.

they began to

as the scouts arrived, sea,

new

about swimming

icebergs they

Everyone crowded around the

had

birds.

Because they were so hungry, the scouts quickly

and happily

ate the fish that the other

had brought themselves,

to the

fair.

you could

Even

as

see that

they were stuffing

most of Fred's

unteers were extremely excited about

had done. her

little

around

When

penguins

vol-

what they

they were finished, Sally

Ann and

friends gave the scouts ribbons to go

their necks.

bons were

all

Made by

the children, the rib-

tied to glittering ice

medals with the

simple inscription, Hero.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

105

The crowd as

much

cheered.

as a

The

scouts

beamed

(or at least

penguin can beam).

Louis called for the child

who had

put in motion

the events leading to the festive day. In front of the colony, he said,

He handed

"And

Sally

Ann

this

is

for

the birds.

The

which had

the broken bottle

become somewhat legendary all

our youngest hero."

since

first

The crowd applauded

child cried small tears of joy.

puffed up with pride. Alice was

as

shown

enthusiastically.

Her

parents were

happy

could remember being in years.

106

to

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

as

she

Discussions went late into the night, well after the children had been put to bed.

continued to be amazed

at

it

Most of the

who were

life

colony told

was said a second or third time.

enthusiastic

felt

nomadic

skeptical of a

found themselves becoming

who were

in the

what the scouts

them, even when birds

Many

more

less skeptical.

Birds

enthusiastic.

Again, under trying circumstances, the colony had taken a very important step forward.

Fred and the Scouts had succeeded in creating

(what one MBA-sounding bird called)

term win.

''

NoNo was

It

was

"

a short-

a big win.

nowhere

in sight.

He seemed

to have

been magically replaced by scouts wearing ribbons attached to medals.

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IS

MELTING

107

108

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

OUR ICEBERG

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109

The Second Wave The

next morning, Louis called a meeting of the

scouts.

The

Professor was also invited.

"What did you learn?" the Head Penguin asked the birds. "What icebergs did you see that might be big enough, in good shape, able to protect our eggs during the winter, and close enough so that our children and elderly can safely travel there?"

The

scouts discussed

what they had found. The

Professor asked question after question after question to distinguish opinions

from

not make him popular with

all

not have cared

less

—but

among

their task

the second

did

—he could

birds volunteered to

wave of scouts, even though

of selecting a single iceberg might be

volunteers and sent

them

possibilities discovered

I

style

effective.

very taxing. Louis chose a team from

110

His

the birds

was very

more

After the Heroes Day,

be

it

facts.

among

the

off to explore promising

by the

first

wave of scouts.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

Many of the skeptics in the colony were now becoming much less skeptical. Some birds still had reservations,

many of which were

rational.

A few of

the penguins were just nervous by nature.

But what about this... and that..,

nobody said would be easy!

Well, it

It s really difficult.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

1

11

Almost no one was paying any attention

to

NoNo

anymore.

Alice was relentless in keeping

of the work.

Some on

up the

momentum

the Leadership Council

complained that they did not have time with

all

to deal

the issues that were arising. Alice pointed

out that half their traditional Leadership Council

meetings were irrelevant. "Eliminate them," she said bluntly. Louis did.

At one point, even the Head Penguin suggested that the right step

might be

to slow

down. But

Alice wouldn't hear of it.

"We are constantly at risk of losing our courage. Some birds are already suggesting we wait until next winter. Then,

if

we

are

the danger was overstated

still alive,

and

they will say

that any change

not needed."

112 I

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

is

It

was a good point.

The second wave of scouts found an iceberg that looked suitable for a number of reasons. It was:

A safe home. No evidence of melting or water filled caves.

•

Equipped with from the

a

tall

snowwall to protect them

icy storms.

•

Close to good fishing

•

Located on a route with enough small icebergs

sites.

or ice plateaus along the

way

to give the

youngest and oldest penguins some

rest

during

the journey.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

113

The

returning scouts were proud, excited, and very

happy.

The

and happy

By

rest

of the colony was proud, excited

them.

to see

this time, the

chore of gathering

was aheady beginning

normal routine.

to

seem Uke

Many birds

fish for scouts

a part of the

helped.

It

was

all

rather astonishing.

The

Professor was asked to assess

more

the newly found piece of ice and snow. enthusiastic about this task.

the journey to the

But

new

after a quiet chat

He was

scientifically

He was

not

overweight and

iceberg was not a short one.

with Louis (and a not so quiet

chat with Alice), he announced he was ready to

accompany

a group of scouts.

And he

did.

Meanwhile the colony was busy with other important,

though

little

penguins.

114

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

pleasant, routines, like creating

new

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

^^^^n

115

Then on May

the 12th, just before the start of

Antarctica's winter, the birds

new home.

their

It

began

their

move

to

was not a moment too soon.

The move was

chaotic at times. At one point, a few

penguins were

lost

found

birds

their

the most part,

all

and there was

way back went

a panic.

to the others,

as well as

But those

and

for

one could hope.

Because of his effective leadership, Louis became greatly

admired by the colony.

he did not allow his pride to

Buddy soothed

Yet, to his credit,

slide into arrogance.

the worried, encouraged the

down-

trodden, calmed the frantic, and probably had

another ten female birds that's

fall

in love with

another story).

When

no one could think of a solution

new problem, Fred was

I

to a

called in to display his

level-headed creativity.

116

him

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

(but

The

He

Professor loved his

new

status in the colony.

even found, oddly, that he enjoyed the admira-

tion of birds he thought

Alice

seemed

And NoNo The

to exist

predicted

grounds

on

at

all.

three hours of sleep a day.

doom

until the very end.

The colony had problems.

w^inter passed.

home was

Their new^

had no brains

different, the best fishing

w^ere in unfamiliar places, the w^inds

bounced off w^alls of ice

in

unexpected

v^ays.

But

the problems v^ere not as large as the anxious birds

had

feared.

The

next season, the scouts found a

berg, larger

though

it

and

w^as

moved

to

enough change, and should

their new^

It W2is

home, they

didn't.

a critical step: not

complacent again and not

letting

up

w^as less

traumatic than the

OUR ICEBERG

They

becoming

.

As you might imagine, the preparation

ond move

And

tempting to declare that the colony

on

again.

better ice-

w^ith richer fishing grounds.

had been subjected stay forever

still

IS

for the sec-

first.

MELTING

117

Tomorrow,

Why again?

we will move

It s

over there!

so nice

here! r

ir

,/^>

'

'*/->!

if

^'i

Vi

^

'^

''n

r

^""^mmtHm

'

'SW

118

M

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

i."

-=«*»»*•*"'*?*'

i

Who cares, as

long as there

are

good

fish in

the area....

I

LOVE being a scout.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

119

The Most Remarkable Change You might reasonably think our

story

is

over.

But

it

quite.

isn't

Some

birds

began to

talk

about

found the perfect iceberg and

how they had now

therefore.

.

Tradition dies a hard death. Culture changes with as

much

difficulty in

penguin colonies

as in

human

colonies.

Alice convinced Louis to shake up the Leadership

Council.

He was

would show

reluctant to

do anything that

disrespect for birds

who had worked

hard for years to help and serve the colony. Making the

moves while preserving the dignity of all was

not

easy.

was

insistent, well,

120

But Alice was

insistent,

and when Alice

you know.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

A tough selection process was created for scouts. They were

more

also given

fish.

And

their status

within the colony went up even further.

The penguin school system added "Scouting" new required subject in the curriculum. The

Professor took over as chief weather forecaster.

A bit reluctant at first, the

as a

work and came

he poured

"real science" into

to love the job.

Fred was asked to serve on the Leadership Council as

Head of the

Scouts.

He was honored and

accepted.

Buddy was jobs.

He

offered a

number of more important

turned them

down, but helped the

all

Leadership Council find other good candidates.

His lack of ambition came to be seen humility.

The

birds loved

as great

him even more.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

Today, the colony moves around like nomads. Most

have accepted

it.

Some

love

Some

it.

never

will.

Louis retired, became the grandfather figure for the

whole colony, and enjoyed he expected. took

his free

A now slightly more balanced Alice

his place as

Head Penguin.

As time went on, the colony grew.

It

time more than

became more

thrived.

skilled at

dangers, at least in part from

It

grew and

handling

what

it

new

had learned

from the melting adventure. Grandfather Louis became the colony's number-

one

teacher.

He was

younger birds Change. At

first

would sound successes

—

to

tell

asked again and again by the

them

the story of The Great

he was reluctant, fearing that he

like

real or

an old timer boasting about past imagined. But eventually, he saw

the importance of telling the chicks

ing and fun a

way

steps the colony

122 I

as

he could

—

—about

in as interest-

the specific

had taken.

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

He

talked about Fred's finding that the iceberg was

how

melting, then

they

1)

created a sense of

urgency in the colony to deal with a

prob-

diffcult

lem, 2) put a carefully selected group in charge of

guiding the change, 3) found the sensible vision of a better future, 4)

others as

that vision so

would understand and accept

many

ated

communicated

obstacles to action as

some

until the

and, 8)

sort

removed

5)

practical, 6) cre-

of success quickly, 7) never

new way of life was

finally,

was

it,

let

up

firmly established,

ensured that the changes would not

be overcome by stubborn, hard-to-die traditions.

Although Louis never telling

of the

he

story,

change of all was in colony had grown

said so explicitly in his felt

how

the

so

most remarkable

many members

less afraid

of change, were learn-

ing the specific steps needed to

adjustment to

new

of the

make any

large

circumstances, and worked well

together to keep leaping into a better and better future.

The Former-Head-Penguin was amazed

at

particularly

what even the youngsters were doing

help the colony.

And

for that,

he loved them

to

the

all

more.

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

I

123

m

124

JOHN KOTTER AND HOLGER RATHGEBER

OUR ICEBERG

IS

MELTING

125

!

^ ^ ^ >Cb