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    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage
    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage
    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage
    Ebook160 pages1 hour

    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage

    By BJ Gallagher, Warren H. Schmidt and Ken Blanchard

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This classic pioneering book provides keen insight into workplace diversity. With new tips, tools, and strategies for peacocks and penguins alike, your organization will flourish and take flight!
     
    Through the story of Perry the Peacock and his fine feathered friends, authors BJ Gallagher and Warren H. Schmidt bring to life the challenges of birds of different feathers who struggle to be successful in the conformity-minded Land of Penguins. Their travails illuminate the challenges of creating a pluralistic corporate culture in which the talent, energy, and commitment of all employees are fully engaged.
     
    People who have new ideas that differ from business as usual are often ignored or criticized for the very thing that makes them valuable: their originality and creativity. This unique book helps organizations break out of "penguin thinking” in order to tap into and leverage the creativity of diversity. Learn how to cultivate an organizational culture in which new ideas can flourish and innovation can take flight.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBerrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
    Release dateJan 5, 2015
    ISBN9781626562455
    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage

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    Reviews for A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

    4.5/5

    3 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I do enjoy when life lessons are conveyed through the use of storytelling. Gallagher has crafted a very clever fable focused on birds to communicate the importance of diversity and change within and across organizations. The personalities - Perry the Peacock, Edward the Eagle, Helen the Hawk, Mike the Mockingbird and Sara the Swan - all have unique personalities that make them "different" from the penguins. "Penguin" is the metaphor used throughout this book to refer to "anyone who is narrow-minded, tradition-bound, risk-averse, conservative, resistant to new ideas or different perspectives and tied to the way he or she has always done things.", making the Land of Penguins a hard place for the non-penguins to survive and thrive in. What I really like is that Gallagher points out that the Land of Opportunity - the opposite of the Land of Penguins - is a state of mind: The Land of Opportunity is an attitude. It is an openness to new ideas, a willingness to listen, an eagerness to learn, a desire to grow, and the flexibility to change. Originally published in 1995, the 20th anniversary edition copy I read contains a "Tips and Tools for Feathered Friends" where on can assess their "Penguinesque" personality and that while there is a little bit of Penguin in all of us, even Penguins can be taught how to fly (change), but the favorite part of this book for me is the special bonus parable that examines the rise of millennials and the corporate downsizing years where even those older Penguins were cut adrift and Perry the Peacock coming to the rescue with the following words of advice:
      • Business is all about relationships
      • Getting good at getting along is essential
      • Don't look for safety - look for opportunity
      • The key to surviving and thriving in turbulent times is feel your fear and get into action anyways
      • Don't judge a bird by its feathers - don't be preoccupied with visual diversity while overlooking invisible diversity
      • Don't let what you can't do stop you from what you can do
      • Focus on what you can do, not what you can't
      A wonderful, and very short book packed with excellent advice on how the non-penguins of the world can help the Penguins to create a Land of Opportunity where "we stop judging each other by superficial criteria and begin to see and appreciate everyone as uniquely talented, capable and valuable."
    • 3/5
      I saw this book recommend on lkernagh's thread and decided to pick it up. I thought it would be useful at work, and I have used it in a couple of diversity and inclusion moments, and it has worked really well. It's about a company run by penguins; some of the penguins have traveled to other lands where different kinds of birds are having successes, so the penguins decide to bring one of them into their company - a peacock. It's a fairly simple fable of something I have definitely seen in some companies where I have worked. A good little story, nicely illustrated.
    • 5/5
      Great Book. Small read with huge message! Simplicity at its best!

    Book preview

    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins - BJ Gallagher

    Manager®

    Part I

    The Story:

    A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

    There once was a time,

    in the not so distant past,

    when penguins ruled many lands

    in the Sea of Organizations.

    These penguins were not always wise,

    they were not always popular,

    but they were always in charge.

    Most organizations looked the same:

    Top executives

    and managers

    wore their distinctive penguin suits,

    while worker birds

    of many kinds

    wore colors and outfits

    that reflected their work

    and their lifestyles.

    Birds who aspired to move up

    in their organizations

    were encouraged to become

    as penguin-like as possible —

    to shorten their steps

    and learn the penguin stride,

    to wear penguin suits,

    and follow

    the example of their leaders.

    Employee Development Departments

    offered

    extensive training programs

    on

    appropriate penguin-like behavior.

    The rules

    and norms

    were clear

    from Day

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