Iceberg Is Melting - Case Study

Final Project
Our Iceberg is Melting

Part One

1. Characters

1. Fred
2. Alice
3. Louis
4. Buddy
5. The Professor
6. NoNo

1. “Fred was unusually curious and observant”. Fred was a penguin that didn’t hunt as much as the other penguins. In fact, Fred studied a lot the Iceberg in which the colony lived. He was the first one to realize that the iceberg was melting and could break apart soon.
2. NoNo was an old penguin that was member of the leadership council which was responsible to the weather forecasting. In the fable, NoNo rejects Fred’s assumption that the iceberg is melting because he believes that during summer time it is common to have ice melting while during the winter the ice amount would increase.
   It is possible that in a group there will be persons that will speculate and create assumptions that are not real facts. Provided that, having someone like Nono that have experience and “know” how stuff works can be vital to avoid making of a small water drop a thunderstorm.
3.  In order to analyze the situation better and have the attention of the penguins that would form the committee, Fred had an idea. In order to support his theory, he grabbed a glass bottle and explained what it was. He then decided to use as a mean to reinforce his theory. He suggested that the glass bottle be filled with water and placed in the cold wind in which the next day they should check if the bottle was broken by the force of expanding water as it freezes or not. As result it did break which led to the approval of Fred’s theory and the creation of a committee to deal with the problem that was rising in concern.
4. The committee called the colony for an assembly. This assembly led by Louis, Alice and Fred with participation of Buddy made the penguin’s colony aware of the fact that there were signs of melting in the iceberg. Such meeting was important to reduce complacency and increase urgency because then people would be alert to the fact that there is a problem and not live as everything is perfect.
5. 5 member’s strengths

1. Louis – enough experience to be wise
2. Alice – practical in which makes things happen.
3. Buddy – Well trusted and liked.
4. Fred - Amazingly curious and creative
5. Professor – Logical.

1. When Louis asked everyone to close their eyes and point to east, everyone was positioned in a different location in which each pointed to a “different” east. This showed how each penguin were working as individuals.
2. In the beginning of the story the penguins are used and satisfied by living in one place for such a long time. However, given the problem that they faced the penguins find out based on seagulls that they should change the way the lived to save the colony. This new way would require the penguins to move from place to place over a certain period which changed the penguin culture.
3. Eight Steps towards a successful change

1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Pull together the guiding team
3. Develop the change vision and strategy
4. Communicate for understanding and buy in
5. Empower other to act
6. Produce short-term wins
7. Don’t let up
8. Create a new culture.

1. This book is appropriated to an organizational change class because it provides realistic characteristics of a business environment. Many times a company will face times of complacency in which having an urgency in the matter can save a company from bankruptcy (as example). When it comes to myself, I believe this book presented steps that are valuable and that actually make part of a life standard point. For example, back in the past at one point I realized that living the way my family and I were living wasn’t going to take me to anywhere. Then I decided that I needed to pursue a better life style to improve mine and my family’s life quality.
2. In fact, there is no Nono sort of a person that influence in my life.
3. In my opinion this book provides a message of future that relates to the idea of making a better future. Everyday people make choices. These choices can lead to positive or negative results. Provided that, creating a sense of urgency for a problem and coming up with possible options of solving a problem or improving something is what relates to a better future.
4. I would say that in a business environment I am a little like Fred. I am always looking for solution to problems that sometimes do not even have to do with me. I am always curious to know the environment better and to improve the performance. And honestly, I am okay being this way. It is important to notice that the people around me sometimes are too busy finding problems and not dealing with it. This lack of initiative to solve something and make it better drives me crazy which triggers me to be so concern with such and actually do something to solve it. I think the people around me actually impacts me to be better. I believe that I am a positive person by nature. Given that, I can easily relate with people with the same attitude. While people with a negative attitude actually make me step up and try to be a problem solver. I believe that in the world there will always have someone that will be better than you are. With that in mind, I am always trying to push myself to be better and everyday doing a step forward.