2009-06-28

Our Iceberg is Melting

I have been reading different books, (which I get from the
library)  not being satisfied with reading one at a time. 
This book I am about to talk about is a fable but is a very
thought provoking story about a colony of penguins in the
Antarctica.

{Our Iceberg Is Melting:
Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
by John Kotter, Holger Rathgeber, Peter Mueller (Illustrator) }

The penguins all worked together to keep their colony alive. One though was particularly curious and observant. While the other penguins did the normal every day chores Fred would get
on a high spot and watch the sea and the iceberg and take notes.

With all his observations he was alarmed to discover that his and the colony's iceberg was melting. He knew he had to tell
the rest of the penguins but he felt that he was a nobody and
he would just be laughed at. One other time another penguin
had tried to warn the colony about a problem and he was made
fun of and then treated differently and even shunned. So Fred
asked himself,  "What do I do now?"

The colony had a Leadership Council and he decided Alice, one
of the councilors was the most approachable. She didn't really
take it seriously until Fred took her under the iceberg to
show her. There were caves in the ice and cracks which when
the caves filled with water and when winter came, the water
would freeze.  As most know, when water freezes it expands
and when it freezes in the cracks then the cracks get bigger.
Soon the iceberg was going to break apart.

Alice was alarmed and went to the Leadership Council, but
they wouldn't listen. Some were slightly concerned but most pooh poohed them. Fred decided the only way they would maybe pay attention was if he made a model and that is what he did.
The Council finally started to get concerned and then had a
meeting to see how they could persuade the rest to do something.

It was a tough job because there were naysayers and
those who feel if they don't think about it nothing will happen,
and also the indecisive. So here is how the council went
about persuading the majority of the colony:

The Role of Thinking and Feeling
Thinking differently can help change behaviour and lead to better results.
   - Collect data, analyze it.
   - Present the information logically to change people's
     thinking.
   - Changed thinking in turn, can change behaviour.

Feeling differently can change behaviour MORE and lead to even better results.
  - Create surprising, compelling and if possible ; visual
    experiences.
  - The experiences change how people feel about a situation.

The solution for the colony was to leave their iceberg, which was an unheard of action for penguins.
So the Council had to gradually change a lifetime of thinking. Here is their way of doing just that:

The Eight Step Process of Successful Change.
1. Create a SENSE OF URGENCY.
  - Help others see the need for change and the importance of
    acting immediately.
2. Pull together the Guiding Team.
  - Make sure there is a powerful group guiding the change,
    one with leadership skills , credibility, communications
    ability, authority, analytical skills and a sense of urgency!
  
 Decide What to Do

3. Develop the Change, Vision and Strategy.
  - Clarify how the future will be different from the past and
    how you can make that future a reality.
   
Make It Happen

4. Comunicate for Understanding and Buy In.
 - Make sure as many others as possible understand and
   accept the vision and the strategy.
5. Empower Others to Act
  - Remove as many barriers as possible so that those who
    want to make the vision a reality can do so.
6. Produce Short Term Wins
 - Create some visible, unambiguous (very clear) successes
   as soon as possible.
7. Don't Let Up  
  - Press Harder and Faster after the first successes.
  - Be relentless with initiating change after change until the
   vision is a reality.
  
Make It Stick

8. Create A New Culture
  - Hold on to the new ways of behaving, and make sure they
    succeed, until they become strong enough to replace old
    traditions.

Patricia Downing
So Sigheee, mmmm