Who Moved My Cheese

Table of Contents Book Summary Lessons Learnt Conclusion Work Cited Change is inevitable and Spencer Johnson knew this very well when he wrote Who Moved My Cheese. This short dramatic story addresses change in life exploring how one could handle it, in work place and in day-to-day life as well. Positive change comes when one is able to sense, expect, and adapt to it by responding appropriately through action. After executing all these measures, change becomes enjoyable and life more interesting, with better results in work and in life.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Who Moved My Cheese specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Of all other things in life, change is the only constant thing and by learning to adapt to and enjoy it, life stops being a puzzle and becomes one enjoyable adventure. With full knowledge of these facts about change, Spencer wrote Who Moved My Cheese from personal experience to help others acce pt and adopt change in life. Laying down strategies in handling change is of essence in this book. Book Summary The book opens by stating the four major characters, Scurry and Sniff, the two mice and Haw and Hem, the two little people. â€Å"Sniff†¦sniffs out change early, Scurry†¦scurries into action, Hem†¦denies and resists change as he fears it will lead to something worse, Haw†¦learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better!† (Spencer 1). Into the plot, Spencer adds a maze, which represents the work place or the place where people look for the things they desire and a cheese; a metaphor for the things that people look for in life like food, health, wealth among others. Having put this in place, the story starts. The two mice and the two little people live in a maze where, every morning they run to Cheese Station C and get enough cheese for everyone’s needs. With time, self-satisfaction sets in and Hem and Haw start ta king their cheese for granted. Fortunately, Sniff and Scurry are ever serious with their cheese and they keep on investigating its source to see whether the supply is diminishing. One day, these characters run to Cheese Station C only to find the cheese is gone. Scurry and Sniff, being little creatures void of intelligence and reasoning, are not surprised by the absence of the cheese. They look for another cheese somewhere else in the maze. However, Hem and Haw employ their intelligence to determine who might have moved their cheese. They cannot accept the cheese is gone so they end up wasting many days staring at empty Cheese Station C. in other words, the two little people with their intelligence cannot accept and adopt to change easily, while the two mice notice the change, adapt to it and moved on to find new cheese.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After many days of sta ying at empty Cheese Station C, Haw decides to leave and search of another source of cheese. However, he finds the idea of leaving Cheese Station C tempting, especially after listening to rather negative Hem, who sees it risky to leave Cheese Station C. Consequently, Haw decides to join Hem in staying at Station C wishing and waiting for a miraculous reappearance of their lost cheese. Finally, Haw gets the idea that, if they do not do something, they will perish; therefore, he decides to move in search of a new cheese. For sometime, he feels lost but after many days of persistence, he starts feeling better about his exploits even though he has not gotten new cheese yet. He is convinced that, imagining that he has a new cheese will lead him to one and this is exactly what happens; he finds a new cheese station, which is almost empty. Despite this misfortune, Haw learns a lesson. Staying for long at Cheese Station C causes Haw to miss the next cheese supply. He concludes, â€Å"The q uick you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese† (Spencer 17). From a loving heart, Haw goes back to Cheese Station C with some new cheese to replenish Hem. Unfortunately, Hem is still in denial and he refuses Haw’s offer of a new cheese; he maintains that he wants his cheese back. Hem maintains, â€Å"I want my own Cheese back and I’m not going to change until I get what I want† (Spencer 17). After realizing, he cannot persuade Hem to leave Station C and search for new cheese, Haw leaves and continues his search for new cheese supplies. In his adventures, Haw realizes change is not bad after all; consequently, he adopts the motto, â€Å"when you change what you believe, you change what you do† (Spencer 18). Therefore, to start with, Haw changes the way he believes and writes on a rock, â€Å"Old beliefs, do not lead you to new cheese† (Spencer 18). Within no time, Haw realizes his new thinking pattern is producing new useful be haviors. Importantly, he notes he no longer goes back to any of the stations without cheese; instead, he searches through the maze to find new cheese-loaded stations. Finally, his positive attitude pays back as he comes to Cheese Station N. To Haw’s surprise, Scurry and Sniff are already in Cheese Station N. Haw observes Sniff and Scurry have grown fat making him conclude they have been around this cheese station for quite sometime. Despite the time he wasted along the journey, Haw is thankful he has learnt vital lessons.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Who Moved My Cheese specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To be on the safe side, he applies his new lessons daily. First, he investigates Cheese station N every morning to notice any changes in supply. In addition, he explores the whole maze to see if there are other sources of cheese supply incase supply at Cheese Station N runs out. As the story closes, Haw hears a sound and only hopes Hem has finally broken loose from his negative mentality to find Cheese Station N. Lessons Learnt A number of lessons come out clearly in this story. The important thing to do when change beckons is to acknowledge it and take positive action that line up the change to work for one’s benefit. Denying change will lead to extinction or mediocrity; an unproductive life characterized with commonness, void of adventures and thrills. Those who take after Sniff and Scurry in today’s world reap big from change; those who take after Haw benefit although after a long struggle while those who take after Hem remain surrounded by fear of the unknown. The key rule in the maze that is life is to acknowledge and take action towards utilizing change that comes one’s way. However, actions without a proper implementation strategy might lead to wasting a lot of time in the maze for no reason. Sniff and Scurry, â€Å"had noticed the supply of cheese had been getting smaller every day, they were prepared for the inevitable and knew instinctively what to do† (Spencer 8). The preparedness that Scurry and Sniff had, symbolizes the strategy that people should have in life to counter change. The two mice would investigate the cheese everyday to note any changes in supply. Likewise, people should notice any little changes and strategize on how to counter the same. In addition, in the midst of change, one needs to maintain a positive attitude. For Haw, he realizes, â€Å"Imagining myself enjoying the cheese even before I find it lead me to it† (Spencer 17). One has to set goals and then align his/her thoughts towards the positive realization of those goals. As the old saying asserts, ‘as a man thinks so he is’, thinking of having achieved the set goals will lead to their realization. Positive adaptation of change requires one to abandon fear and self-satisfaction. Just like Haw, it might seem hard to leave what on e is used to; nevertheless, experience dictates that, without leaving the seashore one will never discover new oceans. Ignoring the facts does not change them; therefore, it is good for people to accept change because change is unavoidable. Conclusion The old adage asserts that, ‘change is the only constant thing’; consequently, adapting and enjoying change repeatedly is the best thing to do. Spencer wrote Who Moved My Cheese to illustrate the effects of denying change or accepting it. Acknowledging, strategizing for, acting on, and enjoying change, underlines Spencer’s work. The ‘Hems’ of today should learn from and emulate the ‘Sniffs’ and ‘Scurrys’ to avoid extinction or mediocrity.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Work Cited Spencer, Johnson. Who Moved My Cheese?. N.d. Web. This essay on Who Moved My Cheese was written and submitted by user J0s1ahX to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.