Changing to Succeed

Fables have been written and shared over the centuries dating back to Aesop, but is only in recent times that the business narrative in the form of a fable has gained popularity as a means to influence behavior.  Our iceberg is melting by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber is a business narrative in the form of a fable structured around eight steps “because that is how people experience the process.  There is a flow in a successful change effort…”

Kotter and Rathgeber present the framework for an effective corporate change initiative by narrating a tale of a colony of Antarctic penguins facing the imminent collapse of the iceberg on which they live.  Under the leadership of one particularly astute bird, a small team of penguins with varied personalities and leadership skills create urgency, build consensus to determine a plan of action to implement change by overcoming disbelief and opposition, develop a team building structure and step outside the box to overcome the changes. 
In the present economic crisis, decision makers in organizations are facing challenges, be it sales, profits, ROI, attrition of valued employees, client and or market share.  What Kotter and Rathgeber recommend in their business fable is, infect, a framework y which to understand and then respond effectively to whatever challenges may appear by changing what is done and more importantly, how is it done, so that organizations can succeed “under any conditions”.

The core issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems.  All of these elements are important but the essential ingredient in any change strategy is always about changing the behaviors of people and that is successfully achieved by addressing people’s feelings.

Beneficial change is an on-going process, not a designation and has one requirement more important than any other: adapt or perish.