Who moved my Cheese
Cheese is all about the things you want in life. A Career, or a job with a five digit monthly salary. A comfortable house. More time to spend with your family. A fancy car. Depends on person to person. We all work towards getting comfortable in life. Let me guarantee this if we work hard enough and plan well enough, there is a 100 to 1 chance you will get what you are working towards. But you know what, not many of us are prepared for the ill fortune. Thats is where most of us fail.
Lets say you look for a job. You prepare yourself for the interview, you improvise on your speech, you have all the possible questions covered. wow!! there is a definite possibility you are getting this job. Now where is the problem? Now this company, where you are having this dream job, is downsizing. In spite of your best performance and good results , you are on the receiving end of this situation. That right!! Its every ones nightmare. Lay off. Hey !! Life isnt fair all the time. sometimes it could be worse. The bottom line is life is never fair. Thats where you need the planning. Like we Systems administrators like to put it. a backup plan, a disaster recovery plan. thats where you got to read this book. WHO moved my cheese - by Spencer Johnson.
The Story
The story is about 4 mice. Two of them are like regular people, they walk on their feet. Their names are HEM & HAW , they can think and they can talk. the other two are the regular mice SNIFF & SCURRY. The four of them get their cheese from the regular room Called a CHEESE STATION . They were happy. The cheese was plenty and tasty. Everything they could ask for. One fine day as usual they go to that room to get their cheese, BAM, its gone. No cheese. Sniff and Scurry just carry on looking for cheese elsewhere. But HEM and HAW , go to the same Cheese station again and again only to be disappointed. One day Haw decides to look elsewhere for cheese and evidently finds it. He also finds Sniff and scurry getting their cheese there. He also finds that the cheese is tastier and in plenties. In spite of telling this to HEM about the new cheese, HEM doesnt want to get any other cheese except from the previous cheese station. Haw on the other hand also looked around where more cheese could be available just in case this one runs out.
Lessons from this book
I am putting forth a few lessons I have learn’t from this book and from practical experiences I had from a job holders perspective. If you have similar experiences being in the same boat as me would like to read them in comments. Even otherwise I would still welcome your valuable comment. Even as I was reading this book, I couldnt help but relate everything to my Job. SO here goes ....
1. Dont ever be afraid of change.
( this is my story)
I get a job in a different city. I dont know the language, I dont know how people are going to treat Me. I am so comfortable in my present Job. but yet, working in that company is giving me a boost to my career. But then its in another city. Is this the story of your life ? Well, there is always more than a way to find out how things are in that city. If you are afraid to change now you will never get the chance or the opportunity. So Lesson # 1 . Do not be afraid to change. For all the odd reasons, there may be something better thats awaiting there.
If you feel that your existing Job is getting you burnt out or you arent getting the job satisfaction, Make that change. There is always better cheese for you somewhere.
2. Be prepared
Prosperity has its limits. Dont get too comfortable. Always hope for the best, but always , I repeat, Always be prepared for the worst. Thats the best thing you would ever do. Always have a backup plan. Keep your ears open. observe everything that goes on around you. You have two choices, Be the victim or be prepared. It doesnt take much time. If you are laid off, Hey , you will always have another one. Never let a tiny opportunity let go from the palm of your hand.
3. Do not Panic.
I cant say many of us do, but I used to panic a lot. I have realized the hard way that panicking only makes things worse, Or at least it makes it look worse.Problems arent as bad as they appear. Problems come and go. There is no problem that is too big for you to handle. If you believe that you cant handle a problem, you rather jump from a 40 floor building, Or there is another option do anything but dont panic. Think cool and be calculative. Have all the options in front of you. Keep your options open. solutions do come, one way or another.
4. Sniff around
I dont mean in the literal sense. I meant find out about other openings you have, which in turn will bring out other options. I know a lot of placement consultants personally. They post me their requirements. I always help them in looking for their candidates. In turn when I need to lookout for a job they give me their contacts. as they say Scratch my back and I scratch yours. Analyze the market , observe the trends and mark out the changes. It always pays to have the information you can use. Always know where cheese is available.
5. Say cheese
The last one ( perhaps not the least)
I was both a good and bad student at school. I was good in getting good grades but bad in attitude. Mischief, pranks, Suspensions you name it. Some teachers loved me and hated me for the same reason. My farewell day My favorite geography teacher Miss. Sharada Krishnamurthy ( she was straight out of college, I had a crush on her) told me ’’ David, you are very intelligent, if only you can put it to good use.
She wrote in my autograph book
Its easy to smile when life flows along like a sweet song. but a guy like you smiles only when things go dead wrong.
Now you know the reason why I had a crush on her in the first place.
Ok coming back to Lesson # 5 , When you are in trouble, smile. It helps a lot , I mean real lot, to help things put in perspective. Smiling at these times changes everything. Changes your attitude, your appeal and your self esteem and more important, It builds your confidence. Lets hope that it doesnt happen to you but if your boss tells you that you are fired, Just Smile.
I strongly recommend this book. Read it. I am sure somewhere down the pages you will picture yourselves in some situations. I guarantee that this book has your life story written in that. I wish success to you in all that you do.
Comments are most welcome.
Davie boy.