Who Moved My Cheese?

Am I the only person who hadn’t heard of Dr Spencer Johnson’s amazing parable on change, Who Moved My Cheese?

One of the women on my confidence building course recommended it to the other students – she had picked it up at a local charity shop and was raving about it!

Basically, it’s a metaphor for dealing with change – a simple parable that uses four central characters to illustrate the different ways we relate to change.

The characters, two little people and two little mice, spend their time looking for ‘cheese’ in a huge, complex maze. As the book unfolds, you begin to understand that ‘cheese’ represents what you want to have in life – whether it’s a rewarding career, a loving relationship, wealth, or a nice house – and the maze represents where you look for what you want.

The book is very short, taking only an hour at most to read - and it’s well worth the time. It’s amusing and simple, yet very profound, revealing many truths about human nature and the way we adapt, or fail to adapt to change. It contains valuable lessons for us all.

I hadn't realised that this little book is actually part of a worldwide phenomenon. The book has sold over 12 million copies and is now part of an international change management industry complete with coffee mugs, training videos and mouse mats!

As a trainer who has encouraged managers and staff to embrace change in the past, I wish I had discovered this little gem sooner.

Check out the website at: www.whomovedmycheese.com.

MG

Comments

[Sara Gold]

I learned many lessons from this little gem. I'm glad you found it! Another confidence builder is Dr.Randy Pausch’s Lecture : Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. The lecture is on Google video. It's about 2 hours long. It's amazing.
Some lessons which especially moved me:

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.
Sara