Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

John Kotter is a renowned authority on leadership and change management, with academic credentials and professional experience that lend legitimacy to his work. Kotter holds bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees (in electrical engineering and computer science, respectively) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a doctorate in business administration from Harvard Business School, where he is now a professor emeritus. The author of numerous books on organizational behavior and leadership, including Leading Change (1996) and A Sense of Urgency (2008), Kotter is also the founder of Kotter International, a consulting firm that helps corporate leaders and organizations put Kotter’s ideas into practical effect. His co-author on Our Iceberg Is Melting, Holger Rathgeber, is a business consultant who has worked globally on corporate transformation. Together, they bring both theoretical rigor and practical insight to the text, a business fable designed to teach the principles of change management through narrative.

The book’s foundation lies in Kotter’s widely recognized Eight-Step Process for Leading Change, which has influenced management thinking for decades. By casting this framework in the form of a simple story involving penguins, the authors aim to make complex change principles accessible to a broader audience. While the fable format risks oversimplifying the nuances of organizational life, it illustrates key emotional and behavioral dynamics, particularly around resistance to change, in a way that is concrete and recognizable. Overall, the strength of Kotter’s prior research and the practical strategies embedded in the narrative make the book a credible and useful entry point for leaders and teams confronting change.