Summer Read – Who Moved My Cheese?

Who Moved My Cheese? by Stephen Johnson, is a best-selling management/leadership theory book from the 1980s that was on the bookshelf at the cabin my family rented this week. This tale of two mice and two ‘little people’ who are stuck in a maze and trying to find cheese is a good reminder of some basic truths about life, professional pursuits, and personal choices in the face of challenges. It’s an easy read that could be critiqued for its simplistic rendering of reality, but the story does address some of the most common questions that people face and has brought encouragement and wisdom to the task of growing and adapting to life to millions of readers. So here are a few reminders that I got from this book – some basic principles regarding change:

–          Resisting reality does not help me process or overcome challenges; it keeps me stuck longer

–          Being aware that things are constantly changing helps me not be shocked when major changes become visible and demand new practices from me; I can watch and be somewhat prepared

–          Even if fear slows me down, or makes reality seem unfair or complicated, or even if I have to journey part of the maze of life alone, I can overcome old habits and failures – and the fear of them

–          Even if fear holds me back and I miss out on some things, I can still adapt and change later on and move forward – it’s not just one chance and then you’re done  

–          Overanalyzing things can slow down necessary action and change and adaptation

–          Analytic skills can be used for good as well – to visualize a new and changed future, to remind myself and others of what I learned in the difficult times in the maze, and to plan for new strategies to deal with change in the future

–          Visualizing in detail how a new successful reality will look and feel in the future leads to its fulfillment  

–          Leaving the security of what was comfortable and known is hard; but once the journey to find something new has started, the journey changes us, and so it becomes easier as it goes

–          The ‘cheese’ – what we think will make us happy or fulfilled – isn’t really the end goal. How we pursue it, and adapt to find it, and go through the journey itself, is more important.