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Moving
with The Cheese
By Michael Alan Hamlin
March 26, 2001
One of the things about Mark Victor
Hansen — co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul — is that
he’s very generous in his remarks about other speakers’
and authors’ books. One of the books he talked about repeatedly
during his visit is Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson.
Despite the quirky title, this book is for ordinary souls and top
managers alike. It’s been around for a while, so you might
have read it. I hadn’t, mostly because I’m not a big fan
of touchy-feely books and seminars (So what were we doing bringing
Mr. Hansen to town in the first place? Good question. But a different
story.)
So while in Hong Kong I picked up a copy of this 96-page
book filled with what looks like 14-point type and numerous drawings
of cheese. It takes about 20 minutes for a slow reader to read —
just about right for an airport waiting lounge book. I kept the
book on my lap, since I didn’t want anyone to see me reading
what looked like a children’s book with a drawing of cheese
on the cover.
Who Moved My Cheese? is about how two mice and two
little people respond to change. The bottom line is that the two
mice, Sniff and Scurry, handle change — and prosper as a result
— better than the two much smarter little people, Hem and Haw.
The story begins with the four characters racing around a maze in
which cheese is always found down the same hallway. Their lives
revolve around the cheese, which is always there for the taking.
After a while, Hem and Haw begin to believe that the
cheese is there everyday because they are special, and that they
are entitled to the cheese just because they are who they are. Not
too much time passes before the two little people, especially Hem,
become rather arrogant about the cheese — which is theirs through
good fortune and no fault of their own — and boast to their
friends of their special status.
They spend so much time boasting about and enjoying
the cheese that the two smart fellows are too busy to notice that
the supply of cheese they return to every morning is actually dwindling.
Worse, what’s left is becoming a bit hard and stale. Sniff
and Scurry on the other hand, preoccupied only with the cheese and
not the bragging rights Hem and Haw attach to it, begin spending
less time in the company of the two little people. They know circumstances
are changing, and are beginning to look around for other sources
of cheese. They are preparing for the inevitable day when the cheese
disappears.
And then one day it does. In a flash, Sniff and Scurry
race off because there’s obviously no reason to hang around.
The cheese is gone, and they need to find more. The much smarter
Hem and Haw, on the other hand, are totally bewildered. Suddenly,
their lives have lost all meaning, because someone or something
has moved their cheese.
But unlike the two mice, Hem and Haw hang around. Hem
believes that the cheese will come back. Haw wants to believe that
Hem is right. Hem becomes angry, wondering who had the right to
move his cheese, and begins shouting for it to be put back. Of course,
that doesn’t happen. Eventually, the frustrated Hem screams
at the top of his lungs, "It’s not fair!"
That’s the first moral of the story, I suppose:
Life is not fair. So it’s ridiculous to expect it to be. Of
course, what Hem also failed to appreciate was the fact that his
friends probably didn’t think it was particularly fair that
Hem and Haw were bestowed with free cheese and an easy life either.
Hem, in fact, could hardly care less about why he was singled out
for special treatment. What Hem cares about is Hem and "his"
cheese. As Mr. Johnson observes, "The More Important Cheese
Is to You, the More You Want to Hold onto It."
Now, what is Mr. Johnson’s cheese supposed to
represent? Well, for some people, such as disgraced political leaders,
it may be a country. Indeed, Southeast Asia presents a pretty good
argument that this is so. The Philippines’ Ferdinand Marcos,
Indonesia’s Suharto, and now Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad
all wanted to hold onto their cheese. Fortunately, history also
suggests that no one can keep their cheese forever. Former president
Fidel Ramos wanted to keep his cheese, but the people wouldn’t
let him. Same for former president Joseph Estrada, who became so
arrogant (and rich) that the people even made him give up his cheese
before he was supposed to. And like Hem, he’s still waiting
around for it to come back.
Cheese can also be a protected sector of the economy,
like retail or power generation or airlines, for instance. The Hem’s
of the world — landed elites who inherited opportunity rather
than earned it — frequently scream at the world, politicians,
and economists that it’s not fair when they lose their protected
status in a marketplace, and monopoly power. Like Hem and Haw, they
deserve these privileges because… well… because they just
do. Despite the fact that most people — who may have done just
as little to deserve such opportunities — have to do without.
At the corporate level, cheese can be customers or
jobs. Most of us at one time have enjoyed strong relationships with
a customer that over time we began to take for granted. We may have
even become rather arrogant about the relationship, and begun to
think we were entitled to the customers’ business just because…
well… because we were. Until one unhappy day.
Those of us who got over it quickly are like the mice
who quickly found new opportunities to capitalize on. Others took
more time like Hem, but eventually went off after our own Sniffs
and Scurrys searching for new cheese. New opportunity. Those of
us who don’t, who shake our fists at the world and scream,
"It’s not fair!" like Hem, well, we don’t last.
And that’s okay.
Because we don’t deserve to.
There’s one more thing to consider. And that is
that frequently willingness to change isn’t just a chore, but
an opportunity to grow and develop. To do even better. And it certainly
wouldn’t be fair to lose that chance.
So be thankful for change.
(Mr. Hamlin is managing director of the consultancy
TeamAsia and the author of two books on Asian economies and managing
in Asia. His latest book is The New Asian Corporation: Managing
for the Future in Post-Crisis Asia. His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.)
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