Who Moved My Cheese (a book review)

Spencer Johnson, M.D., Who Moved My Cheese (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998), 94 pages.

I have invited Dave, a retired school administrator, to facilitate an annual staff planning retreat next month. In planning the retreat, Dave asked if I’d read a little book titled Who Moved My Cheese. He suggested he use it in his presentation and dropped me off a copy to review. This is a short book (It’ll probably take me longer to write this post than it did to read the book), but don’t sell the book short. There are some valuable lessons about change on these few pages.

This is the story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two littlepeople, Hem and Haw. They live in a maze and spend their days in search of cheese. One day they come upon a great find (Cheese Station C). There is an abundance of cheese and they settle in, growing fat and lazy. Hem and Haw begin to see themselves as “owners” of the cheese. But then, one day, the cheese is gone. Sniff and Scurry put back on their running shoes and begin to explore the maze, looking for new cheese. Hem and Haw feel bitter as they’ve come to think they’re entitled to the cheese. They have become afraid of the maze and sulk around. But one day Haw decides it’s time to go out in search of new cheese. Hem refuses to join his quest. Haw finds his running shoes, laces them up and goes out in search of new cheese. Along the way, he finds morsels of cheese, but nothing that can sustain him for long. He keeps searching as he learns new truths, such as “what you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine” (63). He draws graffiti on the maze, pictures of cheese with tidbits of wisdom inside, in case Hem decides to follow him. Examples include:
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“If You Do Not Change, You Become Extinct.” (46)
“What Would You Do If You Were Not Afraid?” (48)
“Movement in a New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese.” (54)
“Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You To New Cheese” (64)

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Along the way, Haw begins to enjoy the journey. He discovers that you “can believe that change will harm you and resist it. Or you can believe that finding new cheese will help you, and embrace the change” (65). He also begins to use his mind to envision himself finding something that is better. He reflects on his mistakes and plans for the future and, in the end, discovers an even more abundant cache of cheese than had existed in Cheese Station C. But as he enjoys all the cheese in this new station, he keeps his running shoes nearby for the time he’ll have to return to the maze in search of cheese.

At the end of his journey, Haw summarizes wisdom learned:
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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’s 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 and Again (They keep moving the cheese) (74)

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This is a wonderful parable about change and about the difference between leadership and management. The forward is written by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D., who coauthored with Johnson the One Minute Manager, another little gem that I read back in the mid-80s. I recommend both books.

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