Our Iceberg is Melting. Now Where’s that Data Scientist?

On the face of it, John Kotters seminal book Our iceberg is melting is a simple tale of a group of penguins who are scared about losing their home, their iceberg, and yes, even more scared of the changes that could entail. But through that simple story and their struggle for finding their new home, the story delivers a more powerful message that could be increasingly relevant for todays companies as they search for their isolated Icebergs of Analytics that dont melt.

The Story and the Cast of Characters

Fred, an unusually observant, curious and creative penguin. Or maybe a data scientist in a penguins disguise? Well, Fred, using his powers, observed that their iceberg, their home, was melting. Not one to just wait for his daily quota of squid, he spoke to one person in the leadership council who he felt would listen to him.

Enter Alice, one of the leaders of the colony, a practical and tough bird. Say our CMO of today’s world. Of course Alice initially wondered if Fred was suffering from a personal crisis or if he missed his morning fish meal. But she did give him a patient hearing which rapidly changed to alarm when she saw for herself the data – the cracks and the fissures in their iceberg.

Alice brought Freds concern to the leadership council and here entered the other cast of characters in the book.

Louis Formal colony leader, well-respected and yet conservative. Maybe the CEO or other senior leaders of any company, not just in a company of penguins?

NoNo- One of the colony leaders and negative influencer who kept trying to poke holes in Freds theory. We dont obviously need to look far for the No-nos. They are typically conspicuous by their alarming presence and doomsday predictions, all the time probably sipping their cup of coffee in the office watering hole.

Buddy Well liked, influencer, but not very powerful. The plethora of digital marketing tools available today, a count of likes, rarely converting to leads?

The Professor Intellectual influencer. The data analytics tools and techniques that can transform Marketing?

Scout and Sally Ann: Helping, excited, part of the change. The business unit leaders who sign off on the initial pilot projects?

Well, the unlikely team of penguins waddled their way to a miraculous solution in the book, enjoying quite a few squids on the way as well, showing that in order to drive change, you need a vision and a team that can drive that change.

The Real Story

Now lets cut to our world. The CMOs’ world where the Marketing Iceberg is melting today in a plethora of confused paradigms. Alice, the CMO, know she probably has an average tenure of less than 60 months in her role. Data is staring at her across channels from transaction information to marketing automation and digital marketing platforms. She has to balance the Art of Marketing; historically the branding and the positioning of the company with the emerging Science of Marketing driven by data to personalize customer insights and drive improved Marketing Effectiveness. And maybe, there is no Fred in sight. What can Alice do?

Lets look at the 8 steps for change outlined in the book and see how they will apply for an organization trying to improve their Marketing Effectiveness Strategy:

Lets hope Alice finds Fred and the magical team of penguins that can drive data driven Marketing change and impact over a nice meal of tasty squids. Would love to hear from all of you who are seeing the melting icebergs in your companies.

Can we stop the marketing icebergs from melting and learn from the nomadic seagulls as our penguin friends did? Is it time to look for Fred and his team?