I have recently read one of the All-Time Bestselling Books “Who Moved My Cheese” written by Dr. Spencer Johnson. As we all hear Change is the only constant, this book recites the same thought with an interesting storyline. If you are an ardent reader, it would not take more than a couple of hours to finish reading the book. The book is elegant to read as the author has kept the language simple without using any jargons. I thought of summarizing the story and sharing the learnings for the benefit of readers.

The author has used four characters known as Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw in his story. The Sniff and Scurry are the mice and the Hem and Haw are the little people. The mice characters Sniff and Scurry keep things simple whereas the little people Hem and Haw, like humans, overanalyze and complicate things. Here is how the author describes the four characters. Sniff predicts and adapts the changes early, Scurry takes immediate actions without overanalyzing, Haw, though resists change, later identifies change can lead to something better, and Hem resists change and believes change will lead to something worse. These four characters resemble the different people around us and different parts of ourselves.

The mice and the little people hunt for their Cheese in the Maze. Here, Cheese is something that you want to have in your life and Maze is the environment where you spend time looking for your Cheese. After their preliminary search, they arrive at Cheese Station C and figured out their own share of Cheese. But, the Cheese quantity was getting reduced day by day. Sniff and Scurry started to realize about the reducing quantity but Hem and Haw became content and arrogant with their success of having found a Cheese station, which they thought would last forever. One fine day, there was no Cheese left over at the Cheese station C. As the mice were expecting the same, it was not a surprise for them. They began to hunt for their Cheese once again in the Maze. However, the little people were startled by the situation. Hem and Haw felt that it should not have happened to them and were waiting for the situation to turn around. They were just cribbing about what was happening to them. Before long, Haw realized that he should perhaps leave Cheese Station C and hustle through the Maze to figure out his new Cheese. But, Hem was reluctant to join Haw and leave his comfort zone. Initially, Haw had a difficult time as he was not able to figure out new Cheese. But, Haw felt better looking for the new Cheese than getting lost in the Cheese-less situation. This thought kept him going forward and to his joy, he at last found the new Cheese station N, where he saw his mice mates Sniff and Scurry enjoying the different flavors of Cheese. Though Haw was glad to be living his moments at Cheese station N, he was anticipating the change and prepared for it. During his journey, Haw even made an attempt to convince Hem to accept the reality, come out of the Cheese station C, and explore the opportunities outside his comfort zone but it resulted in vain. The author finishes off the story with a puzzle whether Hem came out of his Cheese-less situation or Hem is still hemmed.

Key Takeaways:

• Just as the mice were anticipating that the change is evident, we should be ready to face the changes lying ahead of us. Don’t wait till the Cheese is moved. You move with the Cheese.
• Hem and Haw became comfortable and arrogant with their success of finding the Cheese Station C. It just reminds us that things and success don’t necessarily last forever.
• Haw figured out that hustling to find the new cheese was much better than getting stuck with the Cheese-less situation. If opportunities don’t knock the door, you start building the opportunities.
• You can find a lot of interesting quotes in the book. My favorite one is “The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists”. Don’t be afraid of getting embarrassed.

If you are someone looking for a way to deal with change in your personal or professional life, I am sure you will not be disappointed with this book.