2. The author tells a tale of change, of how
we react to it, and the dire straits we can
find ourselves in when we don't follow
that change.The story is told in simple
terms, so simply that one might think
there is little value in the story. And yet
after hearing "Who Moved My Cheese?"
3. The story concerns four characters, two
mice, and two "little people." The
characters live in a maze chasing after
cheese. Of course the cheese is intended
to be a metaphor for anything we chase
after in life that we believe will make us
happy. As in life, the characters are never
sure why the cheese is placed in the
maze, nor the source of the cheese.
4. Hem and Haw, along with two little mice
Sniff and Scurry, search actively for cheese
in a maze.When they find it, they visit the
place everyday. Slowly, complacency grips
Hem and Haw.They lose drive and begin to
take the cheese for granted. As a result,
when one fine morning they find their usual
place empty of cheese, they are taken
completely by surprise.
The story line runs like this:
5. Sniff and scurry had anticipated the
change and thus they were able to digest
that the cheese is no longer there.
Therefore, they started exploring the
maze for more cheese.
And finally they were able to find the new
cheese
6. While, Hem & Haw keep on sticking to their
old work-habits and attitudes, wishing
uselessly that the cheese would come back
by itself.When it doesn't, Haw is the first to
recover. He accepts reality and confronts his
fear. He asks himself, "What would you do if
you weren't afraid?" This helps him
overcome his neurotic fear and change with
the changed situation. In doing so he
regains his lost vitality and happiness and
realizes that inactivity is worse than any
activity. Soon enough Haw discovers new
cheese. But wizened from his experience, he
never grows too comfortable for change to
take him by surprise again.
7. Change happens
Anticipate change
Monitor change
Adapt to change quickly
Change!
Enjoy the change
Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it
again!
8. The book is totally devoted to strategies
of reducing the painful effects of change
from an individual's perspective. It
doesn't delve into the negative effects of
change on an organizational level.The
moot point is that not all change need to
be for the good. And in such cases, it
might be better to resist change than
yield unquestioningly to its extended
arms.