Who Moved

My Cheese?

An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work & In Your Life

DR SPENCER JOHNSON

THE BOOK• Spencer Johnson• Kenneth Blanchard• A global business fable phenomenon• Dealing with change• Printed in 1998• 27 million copies sold• Translated in 42 languages• Used by big corporations

THE FOUR CHARACTERS

“Cheese” – a metaphor for what we want to have in life:

Good job

Happy relationship

Money

Big House

Freedom

Health

Recognition

Spiritual peace

Every morning, the mice & the little people, put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their homes and raced into the maze looking for cheese.

The mice, Sniff and Scurry used the simple trial and error method. They ran down a corridor and if empty, they ran down another.

The 2 little people, Hem and Haw, used their ability to think and learn from past experiences. They relied on their complex brains to develop more sophisticated methods of finding cheese. Until one day….

The mice will took off their running shoes, tied them together and hung around their necks- so they could get them quickly whenever they needed them. Then they enjoyed the cheese.

Hem and Haw do the same thing but after a while, they woke up later, dressed slower and walked to CSC. After all they know where the Cheese is now. As soon as they reached the station, they would hung up their pants, put away their shoes

We deserve this, we had to work long and hard enough to

find it!

Sniff and Scurry continued their routine. They arrived early and sniffed and scratched and scurried around the Station C, inspecting the areas.

One morning, they arrived and discovered there was no cheese. They weren’t surprised and they had noticed that supply had been getting smaller everyday. They are prepared and know what to do.

Later that same day, Hem & Haw arrived. They were unprepared for what they found.

“What! No Cheese?” Hem yelled. “Who Moved My Cheese?” , he put his hands on his hips, his face turned red and screamed “It’s not fair!!’

They spent a long time trying to decide what to do. They keep on looking to see if the cheese was really gone.

The more important your Cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.

Hem analyzed the situation over and over again and said “Why did they do this to me?”.

Haw said, “By the way, where is Sniff and Scurry? Do you think they know something we don’t”.

Hem scoffed, “What would they know? They’re just simple mice. They just respond to what happens. We’re little people, we are smarter than mice!”

Haw suggested “Maybe we need to change and do things differently.”

“Why should we change? This sort of thing should not happen to us. If it does, we should get some benefits that we are entitled.” Hem answered.

Haw asked “Why?”

“Because we didn’t cause this problem” Hem said. “Somebody else did this and we should get something out of it.”

Haw said “Maybe we should stop analyzing the situation and just get going to find new cheese.”

“Oh no, I am going to get to the bottom of this!” said Hem.

And so everyday, Hem and Haw continued with their same routine, going to Cheese Station C and evaluating their situation.

“Let’s go find new cheese outside.” Haw exclaimed.

“No!” Hem responded “I like it here, its comfortable. Besides, I’m getting too old for that and its dangerous out there.”

With that, Haw’s fear of failing returned and his hope of finding new cheese faded.

Hem and Haw banged the wall and made a big hole. They peeped inside but found no cheese

Haw was beginning to realize the difference between activity and productivity

Finally, one day, Haw began laughing at himself when he saw what fear was doing to him. He grabbed his running shoes and said to Hem “I realized that no one will put yesterday’s cheese back”.

Hem asked “What if there is no cheese out there? And if there is, what if you don’t know where to find it?”

Haw painted a picture in his mind of finding Swiss, Cheddar and American cheeses and said “Sometimes, Hem, things change and they are never the same again. That’s life! Life moves on and so should we“. Hem wouldn’t listen.

Haw laughed and announced “IT’S MAZE TIME!” but before he left, he wrote on the wall….

If you do not change, you can become extinct.

Meanwhile, Sniff & Scurry went farther into the maze until they found Cheese Station N. They found what they had been looking for: A great supply of New Cheese!

It was the biggest store of cheese the mice had ever seen.

Haw is now in the maze. He looked back to where he come from and felt its comfort.

He knew sometimes that fear can be good and wrote on the wall…

Haw found little cheese in the maze, here and there, but didn’t feel confident enough yet. The maze is so confusing. He would get lot in corridors. It was a challenge.

Whenever he started to get discouraged, he reminded himself that this is better than staying in a cheeseless situation. He was taking in control rather than letting things happen to him.

He stopped to rest and wrote again on the wall.

Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old

Sometimes later, after not finding any cheese, Haw is loosing his physical strength. He knew he was lost and was afraid he would not survive. He even thought of turning around and go back to Cheese Station C.

Haw wondered if Hem had moved on. Then he remembered the times when he had felt his best in the maze.

It was when he was moving along.

He wrote on the wall, knowing it was as much a reminder to himself but also a marking for his friend Hem, hopefully….

Movement In A New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese.

Then he laughed at himself. He realized his fears were making things worse. He moved in a new direction.

To his surprise, Haw started to enjoy himself more and more.

“Why do I feel good?” he wondered. “I don’t have any cheese and I don’t know where I’m going”.

Before long, he knew why he felt good and stopped and write on the wall……

When You Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free

To make things better, Haw started to dream and paint a picture in his mind again.

He saw himself sitting in a middle of a pile of all his favorite cheeses – from Cheddar to Brie!

He saw himself eating the many cheeses he liked and he enjoyed what he saw.

He wrote…

Imagining Myself Enjoying New Cheese Even Before I Find It,

Leads Me To It!

Haw wondered why he had always thought that a change would lead to something worse. But now he realized that change could lead to something better.

He raced through the mace with greater strength and agility.

He spotted a cheese station and spotted little pieces of cheese. He ate most of the bits and put some few in his pocket.

He began to regain his strength and again wrote….

The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner

you Find New Cheese.

After a while, Haw made his way back to Cheese Station C and found Hem. He offered him bits of cheese but was turned down.

Hem appreciated his friend’s gesture but said “I don’t think I would like New Cheese. It’s not what I used to. I want my own Cheese back and I’m not going to change until I get what I want.”

Disappointed, Haw went back on his own. He knew what made him happy wasn’t just having cheese.

It Is Safer To Search In The

Maze Than Remain In A Cheeseless

Situation

Haw used to believe that Cheese should never be moved and that change wasn’t right.

Now, he realized that it was natural for change to continually occur, whether you expect it or not.

Change could surprise you only if you didn’t expect it and weren’t looking for it.

When he realized he had changed his beliefs, he paused again to write on the wall….

Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You

To New Cheese

He knew when you change what you believe, you change what you do.You can believe that a change will harm you and resist it or..

You can believe that finding New Cheese will help you.

It all depends on what you choose to believe.

He wrote on the wall….

When You SeeThat You Can

Find And Enjoy New Cheese,

You Change Course

He used his imagination again and saw himself finding and savoring new cheese. He decided to proceed into the more unknown part of the maze and found bits of cheese here and there.

Haw was glad he had written on the wall in many places. He trusted that it would serve as a marked trail for Hem to follow if he chose to leave Cheese Station C.

He again wrote on the wall what he had been thinking about for some time….

Noticing Small Changes Early

Helps You Adapt To The

Bigger Changes That Are To Come

Station N, where Haw found the newCheese!

Congratulation Haw!

Piled everywhere was the greatest supply of cheese he had ever seen. Some kinds of

cheese were new to him.

When had eaten his fill, he lifted a piece of fresh cheese and made a toast “Hooray for Change”.Sniff and Scurry welcomed him. They nodded their heads in admiration.

Haw had learned something from Sniff and Scurry. They kept life simple. They didn’t overanalyze or overcomplicate things. When the situation changed and the Cheese had been moved, they moved with the Cheese.

He also realized that:

•There is always new cheese out there whether you recognize it at the time or not

•You are rewarded with it when you go past your fear

•Fear should be respected as it keeps you out of real danger

•Change has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it led him to find better cheese.

•He even found a better part of himself.

Haw thought about going back to Cheese Station C to see Hem but he realized that he had already tried to get his friend to change.

Hem had to find his own way. No one else could do it for him. He should see the advantage of changing himself.

Haw knew he had left a trail for Hem and that he could find his way, if he could just read the “Handwriting On The Wall”.

He drew a large piece of cheese around all the insights he had become aware of….

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL Change Happens Anticipate Change Monitor Change Adapt To Change Quickly Change Enjoy Change! Be Ready To Change Quickly & Enjoy It Again.

Then, Haw heard sounds of movement. As the noise grew louder, he realized that someone is coming.

Could it be that Hem was arriving?

Haw said a little prayer and hoped – as he had many times before – that maybe, at last, his friend was finally able to…

MoveWith The Cheese!!!

SNIFFYAnticipates change early by sniffing it out in the marketplace, and update the corporate vision.

SCURRYQuickly scurry into action and adapts. He liked to get things done, so they took action based on the new corporate vision.

HAWLearns to adapt in time when they see something better. They were hesitant at first, but were open-minded enough to learn something new, and adapted.

HEMDenies change and resist it out of fear. He wanted to work in a place that was safe and where the changes made sense to them, turning them into Haws.

Whatever parts we choose to use, we all share something in common:

A NEED TO FIND OUR WAY IN

THE MAZEAND

SUCCEED IN CHANGING TIMES

Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation & every possession, a duty. So it s our RESPONSIBILITY & OBLIGATION TO SERVE OUR DUTY WELL BY STAYING ALERT, CALM and by NOT JUDGING OUR SITUATIONS SUPERFICALLY.

It is very well said by SOCRATES that “The unexamined life is not worth living” hence one should always explore all horizons and all possible alternatives in order to be successful and reach their CHEESE STATION “N”.

Thank You Very MuchLuisa Joven

There is always new cheese out there!!!