The book uses a time-honored teaching device, the fable, to make clear the methods organizations can use when dealing with changes in the modern world. Based on author Kotter’s “award-winning research on how successful change really happens” (3), the story teaches effective strategies that, when applied, can turn crises into opportunities.

A colony of 268 penguins lives on an iceberg off the coast of Antarctica. As far back as the penguins can remember, the colony has been there. It’s very cold, and they huddle together like a big family. They’re emperor penguins, the largest kind. Tall and beautiful, their coloring makes them look as if they’re wearing tuxedos.

One of them, Fred, is very curious and observant, often off by himself taking notes on what he sees. He’s alarmed by what he has noticed: The iceberg is melting and on the verge of breaking.

Fred isn’t one of the leaders, and he’s not an iceberg specialist, so he has no authority. He remembers how Harold, who made similar warnings, ended up ignored and isolated. Yet he knows there’s a danger. He doesn’t know what to do.