Favorite quote from the author - “What would you do if you weren't afraid.”
It is about two
little people and 2 mice in a maze searching for cheese where each character represents
a different attitude towards change, the cheese is symbolic of success.
The 4 characters represent the 4 types of people one encounters during a change, the mouse sniff is a kind of person who sniffs out/detects changes early. Scurry is a mouse that quickly moves into action. Haw is a person who learns to adapt and change for better outcomes, he does not resist to change. Hem is a type of person who would resist change and refuses to shift.
1) Lessons the books teaches people, Thinking too much about your “cheese” might paralyze you, stop thinking and start chasing it (cheese/success),
2)
Nothing lasts forever
so keep your eyes open for approaching changes.
3)
There is always new
“cheese” to be found and the minute you start moving, things will improve.
The two mice inside the cage, called sniff and scurry, spend most of their time running up and down the corridors of the maze looking for cheese. Their strategy was to turn a corner, run to the end, see if there is any cheese if not turn around and go back,while their pattern seems mindless and unstructured, it turns out to save them a lot of time and energy.
Hem and Haw, the
two other humans, who are trying to find
the cheese not because they are hungry but because it will make them feel happy
and successful however because of their complex brains they ended up thinking a
lot about how they can find the cheese the fastest, which strategies will work
best in getting through the maze how to keep track of their strategies, what
finding the cheese will feel like when they finally find it, they also wonder
if there is any cheese in the maze at all every time they turn around an empty
corner. Life is the same, many people spend so much time wondering what success
looks like, how to get it, whether it is possible and how you will feel in the
future, it is not worth thinking every minute not spending working towards it.
Humans are complicated beings but that does not mean we have to make everything
so complicated. I feel humans should be more like a mouse and just start
running and work towards your “cheese”. (Give a similar example like how you
still overthink and etc.)
Sniff and scurry soon found a big stash of cheese in station c and even though they have enjoyed snacking a bit of it everyday, they kept playing attention to the amount of cheese that was left in the station, the amount of cheese kept declining slowly everyday, once they realized that they were running out, the moved to another station in search of cheese and kept coming back to station c if they haven't found any. When they decided to move on their own, they ended up finding a huge stash at station n. When Hem and Haw found station c, as they thought it was the fair reward for all their hard work, they were so preoccupied with finding the cheese, they did not realize how small pieces of cheese were missing and how some corners of the cheese even got moldy. One morning they woke up to find someone had moved their cheese. This left both hem and haw sad, depressed and denying the fact that there was no cheese. Instead of going out to find new cheese, they kept returning to station c, getting even hungrier and weaker. No supply of cheese can last forever, changes are bound to happen sooner or later. Instead of thinking to yourself that things will stay like that forever, try to keep an eye open for change.
The best part of “cheese” isn't that once you have found it you are set for life, no it does not work that way There is always new “cheese” to be found, haw eventually got sick of just sitting around and he decided to go looking for new cheese by himself, once he got adjusted to that change and went in search of new cheese, it instantly got better for haw and he kept finding new cheese which was better than doing nothing and being paralyzed by fear. After gaining the courage to move on despite your fear, haw realized his accumulated fears were a lot worse than the biggest challenges he encountered. With full of confidence he kept exploring the maze and he eventually found sniff and scurry at station n and the three of them shared the new cheese they found.
These 3 lessons work perfectly in personnel development for an individual. Take an example of myself as an individual. I just used to think a lot about the marks I got and used to be so sad that I could not performed well, once I have started to reflect on my mistakes I eventually got better and better and was satisfied with my grades, this is a great example to say that thinking about the “cheese” (the success) like hem and haw would make an individual sad and depressed, and individual should keep moving forward like haw to find more and more cheese or success. The last 2 lessons about change are the ones that I was able to relate to because there were many situations where I was hit with a change and I could not adjust to it. Eventually I did and I found a lot of improvements in my performance. One of the example being that, during my grade 11 I had a specific teacher for a subject which I was connected to the most, he inspired me the most and I understood that subject and I thought I could not get a better teacher ever but there was a new teacher in grade 12 and I was moved to that teacher with a few other students. I was struggling to adapt to the new teacher and even tried to ask my old teacher if I can join his class, but he politely said no and that his class is full, i tried convincing him saying that I am only one person but he still decline, I understood and went back to my new teacher’s class. As I realized that I had to get used to the new teacher. I was eventually getting used to her and was starting to enjoy her classes. I adapted to change and now I am improving in that subject. This book provides valuable insights to an individual and an organization about how change is necessary to improve and to sustain.
Questions
to think:
a) Are you more like Sniff, Scurry, Hem, or Haw in your approach to change, and how has this affected your personal or professional life?
b) Can you recall a specific situation where you resisted change initially but later realized its benefits? What did you learn from this experience?
c) What is the role of fear in your response to change? How do you typically deal with fear when facing uncertainty?
d) Have you ever experienced a situation where you clung to the past or an old "cheese" even when it was clear that change was necessary? What were the consequences?
e) How do you define success and happiness in your life? Has this definition evolved over time due to changing circumstances or priorities?
f) "Who Moved My Cheese?" emphasizes the importance of being proactive and embracing change. What steps can you take to become more adaptable and open to new opportunities in your life?
g) How can you apply the book's lessons to your career or personal relationships? Are there specific changes or challenges you're currently facing that align with the book's teachings?
h) What are some actionable steps you can take to anticipate and adapt to change more effectively, based on the book's principles?
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