Is there change going on in your world? Is there a major change pending in your organization or non-profit you volunteer with? Many of us face change everywhere we look. We’ve always heard change is hard. Sometimes it is harder than other times. What if there was a formula to approach change that would help get people aligned to work together toward the needed change?

I bought a book on organizational change Friday night and had it finished before the weekend was over. It is written as a fable – a fable about a colony of penguins that is in danger of losing their home and their lives if they don’t change. Change is hard. The characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor and NoNo are like people in every organization – even us.

There is resistance to change, heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and some clever tactics for dealing with those obstacles in the book. The type of change in the book, or a very similar change, is occurring all around us today. In our cities, our counties, our work organizations and those organizations we volunteer with.

If you are facing change, a need to change, or are in the midst of making changes in any organization you are a part of (even family) I suggest you read the book.

I come from a town where the Mayor involved the whole community in the “One Book, One Community” program where everyone was encouraged to read the same book and then talk about how the ideas in the book could change the community. I think this book could be a great read for our CBI Community. Pick up a copy, read it, then email or call to be invited to the group of people who will get together to talk about what we gleaned from the book and how we can use it in our businesses, the community and more!

The book is: Our Iceberg Is Melting – Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber.

I look forward to hearing what you thought of the book and how you plan to use what you leaned!  cbi@roanestate.edu 931-456-4910.