He knew he had learned something useful about moving on from his mice friends, Sniff and Scurry. They kept life simple. They didn’t overanalyze or overcomplicate things. When the situation changed and the Cheese had been moved, they changed and moved with the Cheese. He would remember that.
Haw had also used his wonderful brain to do what Littlepeople do better than mice.
He envisioned himself-in realistic detail—finding something better—much better.
He reflected on the mistakes he had made in the past and used them to plan for his future. He knew that you could learn to deal with change.
You could be more aware of the need to keep things simple, be flexible, and move quickly.
You did not need to overcomplicate matters or confuse yourself with fearful beliefs.
You could notice when the little changes began so that you would be better prepared for the big change that might be coming.
He knew he needed to adapt faster, for if you do not adapt in time, you might as well not adapt at all.
He had to admit that the biggest inhibitor to change lies within yourself, and that nothing gets better until you change.
Perhaps most importantly, he realized that there is always New Cheese out there whether you recognize it at the time, or not. And that you are rewarded with it when you go past your fear and enjoy the adventure.
He knew some fear should be respected, as it can keep you out of real danger. But he realized most of his fears were irrational and had kept him from changing when he needed to.
He didn’t like it at the time, but he knew that the change had turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it led him to find better Cheese.
He had even found a better part of himself.
As Haw recalled what he had learned, he thought about his friend Hem. He wondered if Hem had read any of the sayings Haw had written on the wall at Cheese Station C and throughout the Maze.
Had Hem ever decided to let go and move on? Had he ever entered the Maze and discovered what could make his life better?
Or was Hem still hemmed in because he would not change?
Haw thought about going back again to Cheese Station C to see if he could find Hem—assuming that Haw could find his way back there. If he found Hem, he thought he might be able to show him how to get out of his predicament. But Haw realized that he had already tried to get his friend to change.
Hem had to find his own way, beyond his comforts and past his fears. No one else could do it for him, or talk him into it. He somehow had to see the advantage of changing himself.
Haw knew he had left a trail for Hem and that he could find his way, if he could just read The Handwriting On The Wall.
He went over and wrote down a summary of what he had learned on the largest wall of Cheese Station N. He drew a large piece of cheese around all the insights he had become aware of, and smiled as he looked at what he had learned:
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
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
Haw realized how far he had come since he had been with Hem in Cheese Station C, but knew it would be easy for him to slip back if he got too comfortable. So, each day he inspected Cheese Station N to see what the condition of his Cheese was. He was going to do whatever he could to avoid being surprised by unexpected change.
While Haw still had a great supply of Cheese, he often went out into the Maze and explored new areas to stay in touch with what was happening around him. He knew it was safer to be aware of his real choices than to isolate himself in his comfort zone.
Then, Haw heard what he thought was the sound of movement out in the Maze. As the noise grew louder, he realized that someone was coming.
Could it be that Hem was arriving? Was he about to turn the corner?
Haw said a little prayer and hoped-as he had many times before—that maybe, at last, his friend was finally able to ...
Move With
The Cheese
And Enjoy It!
The end...
or is it a new beginning?
A Discussion Later That Same Day
When Michael finished telling the story, he looked around the room and saw his former classmates smiling at him.
Several thanked him and said they got a good deal out of the story.
Nathan asked the group, “What would you think of getting together later and maybe discussing it?”
Most of them said they would like to talk about it, and so they arranged to meet later for a drink before dinner.
That evening, as they gathered in a hotel lounge, they began to kid each other about finding their “Cheese” and seeing themselves in the Maze.
Then Angela asked the group good-naturedly, “So, who were you in the story? Sniff, Scurry, Hem or Haw?”
Carlos answered, “Well, I was thinking about that this afternoon. I clearly remember a time before I had my sporting goods business, when I had a rough encounter with change.
“I wasn’t Sniff—I didn’t sniff out the situation and see the change early. And I certainly wasn’t Scurry—I didn’t go into action immediately.
“I was more like Hem, who wanted to stay in familiar territory. The truth is, I didn’t want to deal with the change. I didn’t even want to see it.”
Michael, who felt like no time had passed since he and Carlos were close friends in school, asked, “What are we talking about here, buddy?”
Carlos said, “An unexpected change of jobs.”
Michael laughed. “You were fired?”
“Well, let’s just say I didn’t want to go out looking for New Cheese. I thought I had a good reason why change shouldn’t happen to me. So, I was pretty upset at the time.”
Some of their former classmates who had been quiet in the beginning felt more comfortable now and spoke up, including Frank, who had gone into the military.
“Hem reminds me of a friend of mine,” Frank said. “His department was closing down, but he didn’t want to see it. They kept relocating his people. We all tried to talk to him about the many other opportunities that existed in the company for those who wanted to be flexible, but he didn’t think he had to change. He was the only one who was surprised when his department closed. Now he’s having a hard time adjusting to the change he didn’t think should happen.”
Jessica said, “I didn’t think it should happen to me either, but my ‘Cheese’ has been moved more than once, especially in my personal life, but we can get to that later.”
Many in the group laughed, except Nathan.
“Maybe that’s the whole point,” Nathan said. “Change happens to all of us.”
He added, “I wish my family had heard the Cheese story before this. Unfortunately we didn’t want to see the changes coming in our business, and now it’s too late—we’re having to close many of our stores.”
That surprised many in the group, because they thought Nathan was lucky to be in a secure business he could depend on, year after year.
“What happened?” Jessica wanted to know.
“Our chain of small stores suddenly became old fashioned when the mega-store came to town with its huge inventory and low prices. We just couldn’t
compete with that.
“I can see now that instead of being like Sniff and Scurry, we were like Hem. We stayed where we were and didn’t change. We tried to ignore what was happening and now we are in trouble. We could have taken a couple of lessons from Haw—because we certainly couldn’t laugh at ourselves and change what we were doing.”
Laura, who had become a successful business-woman, had been listening, but had said very little until now. “I thought about the story this afternoon too,” she said. “I wondered how I could be more like Haw and see what I’m doing wrong, laugh at myself, change and do better.”
She said, “I’m curious. How many here are afraid of change?” No one responded so she suggested, “How about a show of hands?”
Only one hand went up. “Well, it looks like we’ve got one honest person in our group!” she said. And then continued, “Maybe you’ll like this next question better. How many here think other people are afraid of change?” Practically everyone raised their hands. Then they all started laughing.
“What does that tell us?”
“Denial,” Nathan answered.
“Sure,” Michael admitted. “Sometimes we’re not even aware that we’re afraid. I know I wasn’t. When I first heard the story, I loved the question, ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’”
Then Jessica added, “Well, what I got from the story is that change is happening everywhere and that I will do better when I can adjust to it quickly.”
“I remember years ago when our company was selling our encyclopedia as a set of more than twenty books. One person tried to tell us that we should put our whole encyclopedia on a single computer disk and sell it for a fraction of the cost. It would be easier to update, would cost us so much less to manufacture, and so many more people could afford it. But we all resisted.”
“Why did you resist?” Nathan asked.
“Because, we believed then that the backbone of our business was our large sales force, who called on people door-to-door. Keeping our sales force depended on the big commissions they earned from the high price of our product. We had been doing this successfully for a long time and thought it would go on forever.”
Laura said, “Maybe that’s what it meant in the story about Hem and Haw’s arrogance of success. They didn’t notice they needed to change what had once been working.”
Nathan said, “So you thought your old Cheese was your only Cheese.”
“Yes, and we wanted to hang on to it.
“When I think back on what happened to us, I see that it’s not just that they ‘moved the Cheese’ but that the ‘Cheese’ has a life of its own and eventually runs out.
“Anyway, we didn’t change. But a competitor did and our sales fell badly. We’ve been going through a difficult time. Now, another big technological change is happening in the industry and no one at the company seems to want to deal with it. It doesn’t look good. I think I could be out of a job soon.”
“It’s MAZE time!” Carlos called out. Everyone laughed, including Jessica.
Carlos turned to Jessica and said, “It’s good that you can laugh at yourself.”
Frank offered, “That’s what I got out of the story. I tend to take myself too seriously. I noticed how Haw changed when he could finally laugh at himself and at what he was doing. No wonder he was called Haw.”
The group groaned at the obvious play on words.
Angela asked, “Do you think that Hem ever changed and found New Cheese?”
Elaine said, “I think he did.”
“I don’t,” Cory said. “Some people never change and they pay a price for it. I see people like Hem in my medical practice. They feel entitled to their ‘Cheese.’ They feel like victims when it’s taken away and blame others. They get sicker than people who let go and move on.”
Then Nathan said quietly, as though he was talking to himself, “I guess the question is, ‘What do we need to let go of and what do we need to move on to?’”
No one said anything for a while.
“I must admit,” Nathan said, “I saw what was happening with stores like ours in other parts of the country, but I hoped it wouldn’t affect us. I guess it’s a lot better to initiate change while you can than it is to try to react and adjust to it. Maybe we should move our own Cheese.”
“What do you mean?” Frank asked.
Nathan answered, “I can’t help but wonder where we would be today if we had sold the real estate under all our old stores and built one great modern store to compete with the best of them.”
Laura said, “Maybe that’s what Haw meant when he wrote on the wall ‘Savor the adventure and move with the Cheese.’”
Frank said, “I think some things shouldn’t change. For example, I want to hold on to my basic values. But I realize now that I would be better off if I had moved with the ‘Cheese’ a lot sooner in my life.”
“Well, Michael, it was a nice little story,” Richard, the class skeptic, said, “but how did you actually put it into use in your company?”
The group didn’t know it yet, but Richard was experiencing some changes himself. Recently separated from his wife, he was now trying to balance his career with raising his teenagers.
Michael replied, “You know, I thought my job was just to manage the daily problems as they came up when what I should have been doing was looking ahead and paying attention to where we were going.
“And boy did I manage those problems—twenty-four hours a day. I wasn’t a lot of fun to be around. I was in a rat race, and I couldn’t get out.”
Laura said, “So you were managing when you needed to be leading.”
“Exactly,” Michael said. “Then when I heard the story of Who Moved My Cheese?, I realized my job was to paint a picture of ‘New Cheese’ that we would all want to pursue, so we could enjoy changing and succeeding, whether it was at work or in life.”
Nathan asked, “What did you do at work?”
“Well, when I asked people in our company who they were in the Story, I saw we had every one of the four characters in our organization. I came to see that the Sniffs, Scurrys, Hems and Haws each needed to be treated differently.
“Our Sniffs could sniff out changes in the marketplace, so they helped us update our corporate vision. They were encouraged to identify how the changes could result in new products and services our customers would want. The Sniffs loved it and told us they enjoyed working in a place that recognized change and adapted in time.
“Our Scurrys liked to get things done, so they were encouraged to take actions, based on the new corporate vision. They just needed to be monitored so they didn’t scurry off in the wrong direction. They were then rewarded for actions that brought us New Cheese. They liked working in a company that valued action and results.”
“What about the Hems and Haws?” Angela asked.
“Unfortunately, the Hems were the anchors that slowed us down,” Michael answered. “They were either too comfortable or too afraid to change. Some of our Hems changed only when they saw the sensible vision we painted that showed them how changing would work to their advantage.
“Our Hems told us they wanted to work in a place that was safe, so the change needed to make sense to them and increase their sense of security. When they realized the real danger of not changing, some of them changed and did well. The vision helped us turn many of our Hems into Haws.”
“What did you do with the Hems who didn’t change?” Frank wanted to know.
“We had to let them go,” Michael said sadly. “We wanted to keep all our employees, but we knew if our business didn’t change quickly enough, we would all be in trouble.”
Then he said, “The good news is that while our Haws were initially hesitant, they were open-minded enough to learn something new, act differently and adapt in time to help us succeed.
“They came to expect change and actively look for it. Bec
ause they understood human nature, they helped us paint a realistic vision of New Cheese that made good sense to practically everyone.
“They told us they wanted to work in an organization that gave people the confidence and tools to change. And they helped us keep our sense of humor as we went after our New Cheese.”
Richard commented, “You got all that from a little story?”
Michael smiled. “It wasn’t the story, but what we did differently based on what we took from it.”
Angela admitted, “I’m a little bit like Hem, so for me, the most powerful part of the story was when Haw laughed at his fear and went on to paint a picture in his mind where he saw himself enjoying ‘New Cheese.’ It made going into the Maze less fearful and more enjoyable. And he eventually got a better deal. That’s what I want to do more often.”
Frank grinned. “So even Hems can sometimes see the advantage of changing.”
Carlos laughed, “Like the advantage of keeping their jobs.”
Angela added, “Or even getting a good raise.”
Richard, who had been frowning during the discussion, said, “My manager’s been telling me our company needs to change. I think what she’s really telling me is that I need to, but I haven’t wanted to hear it. I guess I never really knew what the ‘New Cheese’ was that she was trying to move us to. Or how I could gain from it.”
A slight smile crossed Richard’s face as he said, “I must admit I like this idea of seeing ‘New Cheese’ and imagining yourself enjoying it. It lightens everything up. When you see how it can make things better, you get more interested in making the change happen.
“Maybe I could use this in my personal life,” he added. “My children seem to think that nothing in their lives should ever change. I guess they’re acting like Hem—they’re angry. They’re probably afraid of what the future holds. Maybe I haven’t painted a realistic picture of ‘New Cheese’ for them. Probably because I don’t see it myself.”
Who Moved My Cheese Page 4
