Who Moved My Cheese? is a modern day apologue. Just like Aesop fables, it is often interpreted in different ways. The theme of the book deals with the adjustments or adaptations we must make in our lives periodically.
Who Moved My Cheese is much shorter, readable and entertaining. The book is written in ordinary language, with no jargon, psychological or otherwise. It’s an easy one-hour read and doesn’t have the feel of a business book. If you have not read it, I suggest that you give it a chance.
The Size
The book is a mere 94 pages in very large print. It totals to some 10, 000 words, comprising a fable concerning two mice and two littlepeople covering 7, 000 words, which is nested in a frame story of some 3, 000 words.
The Price
The price of the book, bit expensive at Rs 125, has nothing to do remunerating the author for the labor involved in writing it or the cost to the publisher of producing such a meager material. It has all to do with exploiting a market that is seemingly indifferent to price.
The Theme
The story is about four characters living in a maze. These are two mice Sniff, who smells change early, and Scurry, who rushes off into action. And also two littlepeople Hem, who denies and resists change as he is scared that it will lead to something worse, and Haw, who learns to adjust with time when he sees that changing leads to something better.
They all enjoy plentiful cheese at Cheese Station C, but one day, the supply vanishes. The two mice don?t think much about it. They quickly adapt and find new cheese. Hem and Haw however take some time to adapt. Hem is hostile to change and resists doing anything about the loss of the cheese, apart from futile action hitting and breaking the wall. Eventually Haw decides to set out and find new cheese. As he goes on his search, he writes remarks on the walls of the maze such as:
Having cheese makes you happy
What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese
The core thought
The core thoughts of the book (which can certainly be appealing to some managements)
Employees must learn to live with change and should accept that it will always come out for the good.
The best employees are like mice, Sniff and Scurry, who doesn?t hold back to think about why the change is taking place: they just immediately conform to it, either sniffing it out or running from it.
Those who protest and debate against change like Hem are expected to end up by starvation.
Employees like Haw should be value, who find ways to go along with change and sooner or later begin liking it.
Ultimately, the message is clear
Change is inevitable.
There is little point in crying over spilt milk.
Just trust the system ? everything will work out for the best!
The Curiosity
No doubt some, like me, buy the book out of curiosity, simply to find out what the Cheese phenomenon is about, but this must only be a fraction of the gargantuan sales.
Hidden depths
Presumably some may get baffled by the annoying simplicity of the story, and convince their minds that Cheese must have some deeper, metaphorical significance, even if they have difficulty in interpreting what it might be. If one can see the universe in a grain of sand, perhaps one can see the meaning of life in Cheese?
Is that all? Well, I’m not sure. These elements are significant but together they can hardly account for the survival of the Cheese phenomenon, even permitting the massive corporate sales. The real attraction of the book to individual readers therefore continues to be something of a mystery.
On a serious note
Today?s workforce not only has instant access to global information about what is happening and why, but also increasingly wants to have a say in what changes are accepted and which rejected. Cheese will hardly prepare leaders in organizations to the challenges of dealing with today?s employees.
The time when CEOs could simply give instructions about what should be done and expect that their orders would unquestionably carried out, are over. Today, leaders have to persuade, not only by changing minds but more importantly, winning hearts. For this central task of leadership, Cheese seems to be a bit misleading.
On the other hand, the book teaches us to keep an eye out for change so it does not catch us unawares. It shows us that if we are prepared then it is often easier to accept and adapt. In this ever changing world, that is not a bad thing. What do you say?