Who Moved My Cheese?

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Who Moved My Cheese?
Image:WhoMovedMyCheeseCover.jpg
Author Spencer Johnson
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Self-help / motivational
Publisher Putnam Adult
Publication date 1998
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 96 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-399-14446-3

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, published in 1998, is a motivational book by Spencer Johnson written in the style of a parable. It describes change in one's work and life, and four typical reactions to said change with two mice, two "little people", and their hunts for cheese. A New York Times business bestseller since release, Who Moved My Cheese? has remained on the list for almost five years and has spent over two hundred weeks on Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction list.[1]

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Allegorical, Who Moved My Cheese? features four characters; two mice, "Sniff" and "Scurry", and two little people, miniature humans in essence, "Hem" and "Haw", live in a maze, a representation of one's environment, and look for cheese, representative of happiness and success. Initially without cheese, each group, the mice and humans paired off, travel the lengthy corridor searching for cheese. One day both groups happen upon a cheese-filled corridor in "Cheese Station C". Content with their find, the humans establish routines around their daily intake of cheese slowly becoming arrogant in the process.

One day Sniff and Scurry arrive at Cheese Station C to find no cheese left but they are not surprised. Noticing the cheese supply dwindling, they have mentally prepared for the arduous, but inevitable task of finding more cheese beforehand. Leaving Cheese Station C behind, they begin their hunt for new cheese together. Later that day, Hem and Haw arrive at Cheese Station C only to find the same thing, no cheese. Angered and annoyed, Hem demands "who moved my cheese?". Unprepared, the humans have counted on the cheese supply to be constant. After verifying that the cheese is indeed gone and ranting at the unfairness of the situation, both head home hungry. Returning the next day, Hem and Haw find the same cheeseless station. Beginning to realize the situation at hand, Haw proposes a search for new cheese, but Hem, dead set in his victimized mindset, nixes the proposal.

Meanwhile, Sniff and Scurry have found "Cheese Station N", a new supply of cheese. Back at Cheese Station C, Hem and Haw, affected by their lack of cheese, blame each other for their predicament. Hoping to change, Haw again proposes a search for new cheese. Hem however, comforted by his old routine and afraid of the unknown, again knocks down the idea. After many days in denial, including a search for cheese behind the wall of Cheese Station C, the humans remain without cheese. One day, realizing his debilitating fear, Haw begins laughing at the situation. Realizing he should move on, Haw enters the maze, but not before chiseling "If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct" on the wall of Cheese Station C for his friend to ponder.

Still fearful of his trek, Haw jots "What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?" on the wall and, after thinking about it, begins his journey. Still with worry, perhaps he has waited too long to begin his search, Haw finds some scattered cheese and continues his search. Slowly losing his denial, Haw realizes that the cheese has not suddenly disappeared, but has dwindled from continual eating, and that the older cheese was not as tasty and had been moldy. After a let down, an empty cheese station, Haw begins worrying about the unknown again. Brushing aside his fears, Haw's new mindset allows him to again enjoy life; he has even begun to smile again and is realizing "when you move beyond your fear, you feel free." After another empty cheese station, Haw decides to go back for Hem with the few bits of new cheese he has managed to find.

Uncompromising, Hem turns away the new cheese to his friend's dismay. With knowledge acquired along the way, Haw heads back into the maze. Still going deeper into the maze, impelled by bits of new cheese here and there, Haw leaves a trail of writings on the wall, hopeful that his friend will be aided by them in his search for new cheese. Still traveling, Haw one day comes across Cheese Station N. Abundant with cheese, some varieties strange to him, he has found what he is looking for. After eating, Haw reflects on his experience. Pondering a return to his old friend, Haw decides to let Hem find his own way. Finding the largest wall in Cheese Station N, he writes:

Change Happens
They Keep Moving The Cheese
Anticipate Change
Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
Monitor Change
Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt To Change Quickly
The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Change
Move With The Cheese
Enjoy Change!
Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again
They Keep Moving The Cheese.

Cautious from past experience, Haw inspects Cheese Station N daily and explores different parts of the maze to prevent complacency from setting in. After hearing movement in the maze one day, Haw realizes someone is approaching the station. Unsure, Haw hopes that it is his friend Hem who has found the way.

[edit] Criticism

Some managers are known to mass-distribute copies of the book to employees, some of whom see this as an insult or an attempt to characterize dissent as not "moving with the cheese". Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams claims that patronizing parables are one of the top 10 complaints he receives in his email.[2]

[edit] Variations

With over five million copies in print, Who Moved My Cheese? has spawned many variations, two of them by Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese? For Kids and Who Moved My Cheese? For Teens: An Amazing Way to Change and Win!. Transcending culture and borders, 1.6 million copies have been sold in China "despite the fact that most Chinese have never tasted cheese".[citation needed] Chinese books, published in 2002, inspired by the "cheese" concept, variations and critical answers to Johnson's books include[3]:

  • Agitating, Alluring Cheese
  • Can I Move Your Cheese?
  • Chinese People Eat Cheese?--Who Took My Meat Bun?
  • I Don't Bother to Move Your Cheese
  • Make the Cheese by Yourself!
  • Management Advice 52 from the Cheese
  • No More Cheese!
  • No One Can Move My Cheese! The New Allegory of Cheese, The New Enlightenment of Allegory
  • A Piece of Cheese: Reading World Famous Fairy Tales with Mom
  • Who Dares to Move My Cheese?
  • Whose Cheese Should I Move? by Chen Tong (English translation: Augustine Quek), 2003, ISBN 981-244-505-6

Additionally, parodies have been based on the "cheese" concept:

  • Who Cut The Cheese? - An A-Mazing Parody about Change (and How We Can Get Our Hands on Yours),
  • Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cutting Edge Way of Surviving Change by Shifting the Blame,
  • My Cheese?!!: An Amazing Way to Make More Money from the Poor Suckers That Cheated in Your Work and in Your Life
  • Who Moved My Soap?: The CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison
  • WHO STOLE MY CHEESE?!?!?!?!?!?!?: A RED blog about a cheesy mystery story. This blog is not about the 'cheese' concept, but actually about cheese.
  • When author Michael LaRocca moved from the USA to China, he wrote a book about adapting to change entitled WHO MOVED MY RICE? It was a 2005 EPPIE finalist. Books Unbound, 2004, ISBN 1-59201-031-8
  • Nobody Moved Your Cheese! How to Ignore the Experts and Trust Your Gut by Ross Shafer
  • I Moved Your Cheese, by Darrel Bristow-Bovey

[edit] References

  1. ^ Maryles, Daisy and Dick Donahue. "Behind the Bestsellers." Publishers Weekly 10 December 2001: 18.
  2. ^ What moves the 'Cheese' for books, Del Jones, USA Today, 26 December 2002.
  3. ^ Harper's Magazine, 2003

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links