Book Review: “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter

How do we drive change when no one senses a need for change? In his book “Our Iceberg Is Melting,” Kotter uses a parable to illustrate the first two steps of his change model – (1) create a sense of urgency and (2) form a guiding coalition.

In the story, one penguin realizes the home his fellow penguins rely on is ready to break apart. The problem? No one can see the flaws in the iceberg far underneath the surface.

What We Love About this Book

It’s relatively short and written in a parable form. It explores themes of getting influential persons on board with change, making a pitch, and getting others involved in the solution. It has great examples as well of identifying those who will never be on board for change and how to box them in. Although it’s not written about an office setting, the parable can make it much more readable for many readers while still providing great examples and making it easy and fun to discuss in an office “book club”.

Any criticisms?

It’s possible the penguin-based setting creates too much of an eye roll for ultra serious team members. Might be too light for those people and situations.