Cheese!

Whilst at my placement at Eyes Wide Open Marketing Consultancy in Bucks this week, there was a team discussion on the book 'Who moved my cheese?' by Dr Spencer Johnson. I'd heard this phrase being thrown around the office a few times since starting and thought it a bit strange... new client?... new business technique?... inside joke I was unaware of?

All was explained when the meeting begun in the new EWO office's board room. EWO have recently moved and the Managing Director gave everyone a 'Who Moved My Cheese?' book to read for this meeting and be able to discuss it. I'm assuming because the EWO team have moved to new offices and are obviously expanding their company the book is to help everyone prioritise how they see these work changes. Sitting in on the meeting, not having read the book, it was intriguing as I was getting the gist of the story from different people's perspectives. Later that day, an EWO team member let me borrow their book and I was quite eager to read it and to be able to join in the conversation!

It's very easy to read and can be read in under an hour! The book is very insightful. It simplifies what a lot of human beings complicate in their minds. The basic gist of the story is that there are two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little people (like humans only the size of mice) called Hem and Haw (an American way of saying Umm and Err apparently?!). They all live in a maze and have to find the cheese stashes within the maze in order to survive. At one point all four of the characters find a large stock of cheese. Sniff and Scurry stay very proactive and begin to realise when the cheese is running low. So they look to the future and set about finding more cheese to secure their future (having to change and move away from the cheese station they originally found). Hem and Haw, however, get comfortable and do not see the cheese starting to run out, until one day, it is just gone. Hem (being the very stubborn character) decides that the cheese will come back to him, he should not have to go looking for it. Haw, on the other hand, waits around for a while with Hem, but eventually decides that he must be more proactive and find more cheese. He eventually leaves behind Hem and goes on an adventure to find more cheese in order to be able to survive. His cheese finding journey turns into a self discovery journey and he learns a lot of things about life in general, that any reader can apply to their own life.

I haven't really done the story justice, you need to read it to see what I mean. But the basic moral I took from the story (my favourite pages are 47 & 48) is that humans always imagine a change to be worse than it is, whether it's because we over think it or we get too stuck in our ways (like Hem). But we need to recognise that changes are always occurring- businesses need to change and evolve in order to survive, people change and so do relationships, work situations can change also, like moving or expanding. We need to realise and anticipate these changes and be prepared to deal with them as positively as we can otherwise we don't go anywhere or achieve anything. On pages 47 & 48 it basically illustrates that we need to 'feel the fear but still do it anyway'. My favourite cheese illustration is "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" (Read the book and you'll see what I mean!)

I actually stopped reading and asked myself that question. There is so so much I would do or would have done in the past if I didn't always over-analyse everything all the time; I wind myself up to the point my thoughts and my fears aren't even rational! I'm so guilty of getting a little too comfortable in my ways too, particularly in my home-life and I often repel home changes because it seems like such a big upheaval and unnecessary! When in reality nine times out of ten the change that has occurred has led to better things- just like the book says!

The book is definitely worth a read, I highly recommend it and have ordered myself a copy (see link below- it's not even that expensive!). It's a book that you can read again and again and take different morals from it depending upon your current situation. Coming into my last year of uni, this year is going to be all about change and I need to learn to 'move with the cheese' otherwise I will end up being left behind and not getting anywhere in my career and subsequently my life. In my opinion I need to aspire to have a combination of Sniff (proactive, ahead of the game and don't be afraid to take the plunge) and Haw (considers actions, looks for ways to improve and realise things are never as bad as they seem) in my personality in order to do this effectively.

Who Moved My Cheese? from Amazon

Read the book and want to discuss or want to know more? Tweet me @cflitney or comment below or on LinkedIn. Always appreciate feedback!