Book Review: Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding under any Conditions

'Our Iceberg Is Melting’ sounds like a book on global warming, but surprisingly, as I discovered when I started reading, it is not. It is about changing and striving for better.
The book is written like a fable by two change specialists and is a fun but meaningful read. The authors have brilliantly crafted a plot to embed their wisdom and insights on change. The first author, John P. Kotter is a
leadership and change guru at Harvard. He has written over 20 honored books some of which are bestsellers. Holger Rathgeber, the co-author, has a vast experience of working with organizations to help them implement the strategies of change.
The story is about a colony of penguins living on a huge iceberg in Antarctica. The Iceberg had been there for a long time and the penguins believed that it would last forever. The iceberg is surrounded by sea rich in food and shelter to protect them from storms. Among the two hundred and sixty eight penguins, Fred is an unusually observant penguin who discovers a hole in their iceberg. He realizes that there is great risk of the iceberg melting, which would leave all the native penguins homeless. He tells this to Alice, a senior penguin and a member of the
Iceberg's Leadership Council. They discuss this with the rest of the Council, and start thinking on this problem. This news is hard to accept for everyone, for they had believed before that this Iceberg could not melt, but Fred proves that the Iceberg is melting. They form a group of five penguins to work on this problem. They have to face penguins that sneer at them and make fun of them, but they continue working on their mission. They launch campaigns and hold meetings to persuade other penguins that the Iceberg really is melting. They explore possibilities of travel, and plan what to do. Little kids join in the work. Finally, they move to a new, better, bigger, and safer Iceberg.
The book is illustrated with wonderful pictures by Peter Mueller. These pictures develop further interest into the story and make it much more fun to read. Overall, this book is about change, how to change and succeed no matter what. It is narrated simply and plainly, so that anybody can understand it, and learn from it. In the end, are also mentioned the eight steps of change by John Kottter. This book should be read by everyone, from students to CEOs of organizations because change is something everyone has to face. I’m sure you'll enjoy reading it!
This story was a very interesting read. You can also read it as an ebook here.