Nuestro iceberg se derrite: Como cambiar y tener éxito en situaciones adversas

Por John Kotter y Holger Rathgeber

Nuestro iceberg se derrite es una fábula sobre como salir adelante en un mundo siempre cambiante. El relato, basado en el premiado trabajo de John Kotter, profesor de la Escuela de Negocios de Harvard, se ha utilizado para ayudar a miles de personas y organizaciones. Es la historia de una colonia de pinguinos que ha vivido en la Antartida durante años, hasta que uno de ellos descubre un problema potencialmente devastador y que pone en peligro su habitat, pero casi nadie le presta atención. Los personajes se asemejan a muchas personas que conocemos... Su historia es una historia de resistencia al cambio, obstaculos aparentemente invencibles e ingeniosas tácticas para hacerles frente. Es una historia que se desarrolla a diario, de una manera u otra, en todas partes, pero los pinguinos manejan los desafíos mucho mejor que la mayoría de nosotros.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Granica
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 1 nov 2019
• ISBN: 9789506417741

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John Kotter - Holger Rathgeber

Ilustraciones: Peter Mueller

Nuestro iceberg se derrite

Cómo cambiar y tener éxito en condiciones adversas

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Créditos

Fecha de catalogación: 08/08/2013

© 2013 by Ediciones Granica

© 2013 John Kotter, Holger Rathgeber

Título original: Our iceberg is melting

Publicado por St. Martin’s Press, Nueva York, 2005.

Diseño de Tapa: El ojo del huracán

Conversión a EPub: Daniel Maldonado

Reservados todos los derechos, incluso el de reproducción en todo o en parte, en cualquier forma.

Prefacio

A primera vista, este maravilloso libro parece ser una sencilla fábula fácil de leer y entender; pero ésa es exactamente la punta del proverbial iceberg.

Al trabajar con John Kotter en la Escuela de Negocios de Harvard, me di cuenta de que él sabe más sobre el cambio en las organizaciones que cualquiera en cualquier rincón del mundo. Líderes y gerentes de todas partes han leído su muy respetado libro Leading Change y descubierto que utilizar sus ocho pasos es la mejor manera de asegurar que el cambio organizacional se dé con éxito.

¿Qué tiene eso que ver con la mayoría de nosotros?

Pues bien, gracias a Nuestro iceberg se derrite, todos los que trabajan en cualquier tipo de empresa –y eso quiere decir la mayoría de la gente– pueden ahora descubrir cómo utilizar los ocho pasos y disfrutar de más éxito en estos tiempos cambiantes.

El profesor Kotter y su igualmente creativo coautor, Holger Rathgeber, nos permiten ver cómo un grupo de pingüinos en condiciones adversas utilizan los pasos, aparentemente sin saberlo. Así trabaje usted en un negocio, o en el negocio de la vida, sea el presidente de una empresa o un estudiante de secundaria, podrá derivar lecciones de esta historia.

Una pregunta que todos pueden hacerse es: «¿Cuál es mi iceberg, y cómo puedo poner en práctica lo que he descubierto en este relato?». Después, ¿por qué no compartirlo con sus compañeros de trabajo? Al fin y al cabo, las cosas generalmente resultan mejor cuando todos van en pos de un mismo objetivo.

Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Autor de ¿Quién se ha llevado mi queso? y coautor de El ejecutivo al minuto.

Bienvenidos

El que acierte a controlar bien el cambio prosperará grandemente; el que no sepa hacerlo correrá un riesgo.

Con demasiada frecuencia las organizaciones no ven la necesidad del cambio. No identifican correctamente qué deben hacer, o cómo actuar para que suceda, o para que se mantenga. Esto les ocurre a las empresas; a las instituciones educativas; a las naciones.

Hemos estudiado el desafío del cambio durante décadas. Conocemos las trampas en que puede caer aun la gente más inteligente, y también conocemos los pasos que pueden asegurar el éxito del grupo. Nuestro propósito es mostrar lo que hemos encontrado.

Nuestro método es mostrar, más que dar instrucciones, y lo haremos utilizando la fábula, que a través de los siglos ha demostrado ser la manera más eficaz de impartir enseñanzas.

Las fábulas pueden tratar asuntos graves, complejos y amenazadores y hacerlos claros y comprensibles.

Las fábulas pueden ser memorables, a diferencia de la mayor parte de la información con que hoy nos bombardean por todas partes y que mañana se habrá olvidado. Pueden estimular el pensamiento, darnos valiosas lecciones e inspirarnos, a todos –jóvenes y viejos– para que saquemos provecho de ellas. En nuestro mundo moderno de alta tecnología es fácil pasar por alto esta sencilla pero profunda verdad.

La historia que se cuenta a continuación trata de la vida en un mundo cambiante. Habla de las cuestiones básicas, ésas que son difíciles de resolver en la vida real.

Si el lector sabe mucho sobre el escenario en que hemos situado nuestra historia –la Antártida– verá que, como sucede siempre en las fábulas, la vida no es exactamente como se presentaría en un documental de la National Geographic. Si cree que una historia divertida sobre los pingüinos tiene que ser para niños de corta edad, o por lo menos con mucha menos experiencia que usted, pronto verá que este libro aborda problemas que a todos nos dan mucho trabajo.

Para el que quiera leer algo acerca de la historia de este libro y sobre qué relación guarda con el tradicional «libro Kotter» o cómo puede ayudarle en una era de cambio, podrá consultar ese material, a partir de la página 123.

Si esto no le parece necesario, busque una silla cómoda y siga leyendo.

Nuestro iceberg jamás se derretirá

Érase una vez una colonia de pingüinos que vivía en la helada Antártida,

Comentarios para Nuestro iceberg se derrite

[collingsruth · Calificación: 1 de 5 estrellas]

Wow, what an inane book. If I could give it zero stars on purpose I would. This is a fable-based retelling of some business guy's eight simple steps to change management. If you know anything about change management already, you can skip this one. If you don't know anything about change management... search it and read what you find. It'll probably be as sufficient a primer. While I appreciate the value of using stories to capture people's attention and make an impression when you're trying to convey a message, this story is so poorly written that I can't get over it. Listing the misogynistic tropes it uses would be tedious so I'll just say it's definitely not passing the Bechdel Test. Lesson learned: if you're going to write a piece of fiction with a moral, the fiction part has to actually work and be entertaining or nobody will care about your moral.I was assigned this reading for a work activity so I got it for free and even then I want the 30 mins of my life I spent reading this book back.

[deblemrc-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Full of platitudes, no new insights. Looks like they've read 10 management books about change, and then decided to put these in a short, fancy book. Can't understand why this is such a success book.

[mugsynoir · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Simplistic book on change management/realization. Good for someone being introduced to change management and organizational development for the first time.

[realbigcat · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter follows the fable based business and self help genre books like those by Spencer Johnson. This one I did not find as entertaining. The theme itself is about change and the fable involves a community of Emporer penguins and how they need to implement and embrace change to move off their iceberg. It's a very short book but really it can be all summed up in the last 3 pages on the 8 step process to implement successful change. If you like these type of simple fable based books then you may want to give it a read.

[vincentdarlage · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

That was a quick read... Kotter's theory of change management put into fable format. It was a fairly effective way to show the 8 steps of change. Of course, if you already know and understand the 8 steps, it's pretty predictable. LOL.

[tloeffler_3 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Fred is a curious emperor penguin in a penguin colony in Antarctica. One day, he discovers that their iceberg is showing signs of deterioration, and that it is in danger of melting or breaking into pieces. Fred manages to convince the Leadership Council of the problem, but how are they going to convince all of the other penguins?

Well, they use John Kotter's Eight Steps to Change (of course, without realizing it) to show the other penguins the necessity for change. A cute, fun story with a moral.

[stefannijenhuis · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Quick read. Read it in Dutch. This book tells a story about how a colony of penguins have to change drasticly and how they succeeed to do it. Some crucial roles are stereotyped and represented as individual penguins. The story is based on the principles of change management, described in another book by the same author 'Leading Change'.

[alexdaw · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

I know that I should like this book and give it a good review but I didn't and I can't.

I think I would have preferred Kotter's original book about change management without all the animal nonsense that is in this.

This is the kind of book a manager goes out and buys for all their staff and says "Read this! It won't take you long. You'll have it finished by this afternoon/tonight!" And they'd be correct. It doesn't take long to read at all. So for goodness sake read it and have a discussion with me if you will.

I just object to the use of "dumbing-down" or sugar-coating management speak. The analogy for me is lame (OMG I'm using teenager type words - it must have really touched a sensitive nerve in me!)

What we're talking about here is change-management. In this "picture book for grown ups" we're presented with a fable about a group of penguins who are sitting on a melting iceberg. Where can they go? Will they listen to the wise lone penguin voice in the wilderness who says they have to go, when it would be so much more comfortable to stay (and all drown and witness their kids dying?????)

Let's forget about the fact that penguins can swim. Let's forget about the fact that penguins can't talk. Just humour me for a second. If you are willing to suspend disbelief and go along with penguins being as silly as humans, then you would understand why I have a fundamental problem with this tale. It just doesn't ring true. Maybe I am too cynical. Maybe I am reading this too literally. I don't think so. I don't think I am like the very subtly (deep cynicism here folks) named "NoNo" character in the book.

I just hate being spoken to as if I am a 3rd-grader. In this book we are to believe that all the penguins, if they cooperate and pull-together will re-locate to a better iceberg - every five years.

Oh puhleeeeeezzzzz. Anyone who has been through change knows that not all the penguins get to go......and it's never another better iceberg. Animal Farm would be a better read at this point I think....a better iceberg for some.

I'm not saying I object to change. I just wish someone would call it like it is for once. Be honest. Tell it like it is. Acknowledge that there will be collateral damage for the sake of the survival of the fittest and all that.

What do you think? Am I a "NoNo". Should I read Kotter's other book?

[ashishg_50 · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

If Kotter thought that he could do Johnson (of Who Moved My Cheese), well, he failed. In efforts to make ideas into a fable, he ended up creating a hardly interesting numbingly childish story. That aside, information given about change management is fine. But then, I am hardly good receipient of management gyaan where obvious wisdom is passed on as ultimate truth. Steps of chage management? Create urgency, form team, create vision, communicate vision, empower people, get short-term win, don't give up, create new culture. There.

[elmyra_1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

A colleague lent me this and I put it in my travel bags - it makes for light airport reading when you're on a 20-hour trip from San Jose, Costa Rica to Newcastle after a week of meetings. It's a good summary of Kotter's theory on change leadership for the travelling braindead, and an easy way to get into Kotter if that's what you want.

Bechdel: pass, in a token sort of way.

[rohetherington · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

This is an important book, delivered through a short entertaining fable.

Jack Welch said about organizations, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” The rate of technological change today is staggering. Technology is enabling rapid changes in the way clients and customers consume and engage with information, media and content - along with the tools they use. This is impacting industries one by one (e.g. news industry vs user generated content, music/movie industry vs peer-to-peer download sites, traditional gaming industry vs social gaming applications...)

Leading the same rate of change within organisations, to keep pace with the external environment, is an enormous challenge. We can learn a lot from the penguins in this story (who demonstrate Kotter's 8 steps to change management simply, clearly and with a staggering level of intelligence)!

[sandrafelker · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

Use of a parable to demonstrate a point. A little cheesy - wish I hadn't bought it but not an absolute waste of time.

[cailin_2 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Assigned reading for work!

[jjmachshev_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Yet another work read and this one sticks in my mind. Probably as much for the entertainment value as the educational one. How to identify and work with those resistant to change (for whatever reason) without letting them, yourself, or your work get sidetracked.

[lynnb_64 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

What a wonderful illustration of the power of story-telling. The authors use a parable about a colony of penguins who discover that their home is melting to illustrate how to lead and manage change within an organization. Easy to read, and written in a way that the messages are bound to stay with you. As a bonus, it is beautifully illustrated.

[wilsonprojectplay · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Another good book by John Kotter. A very quick read, but his points are will illustrated.

[phoenixcomet · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Along the lines of Who Moved My Cheese, a fast read using allegory of penguins whose iceberg is melting to set up the 8 step process of successful change in an organization.
1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Pull together the guiding team
3. Develop the change vision and strategy
4. Communicate for understanding
5. Empower others to act
6. Produce short-term wins
7. Don't let up
8. Create a new culture

[oldbookswine · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

a rewriting of Who moved my cheese only on an iceberg