Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Life
by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
(Putnam, 1998)

Spencer Johnson, the author of this little book was co-author of The One-Minute Manager, and he has written several other books in that series. Who Moved My Cheese fits the genre perfectly. It is a tiny book, readable in minutes, but dense and pithy. The major part of the book is a fable about two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little people, Hem and Haw, who live in a maze and what happens when someone or something moves their cheese.

I'll tell you right up front that cheese is a metaphor for whatever in your life is really important to you that you need, want, or otherwise depend on; the maze is a metaphor for wherever it is you spend time looking for whatever it is that is important to you. The book is about dealing with change, something we instinctively want to minimize or avoid, but that happens to us, nonetheless. Sniff and Scurry, our two mice, used their noses; and once they had found their way to the original source of cheese, they never varied their route or their habits. Hem and Haw, our little people, were much more sophisticated. Once they found the cheese, they began to treat it as if they deserved it; they became comfortable, confident, fat, and arrogant. At some point, cheese supplies dwindled, then disappeared altogether. The mice were not surprised. They instinctively knew they had to go find another source of cheese. They didn't analyze or reflect on what they had lost. They simply reacted -- immediately.

On the other hand, Hem got angry, Haw was bewildered and both were paralyzed -- at least temporarily -- by the situation. As time passed, Hem got bitter. Then he became afraid. "Why did they do this to me?" he asks. But whatever his mood, he steadfastly refused to move or to do anything about his situation. He kept coming back, day by day, to where the cheese had always been. After a very few days, Haw decides that he must do something. He's getting hungry. He tries to get Hem to go with him to find a new source of cheese, but Hem refuses. Haw takes stock of his situation, has a good laugh at himself, then decides to take control of his own destiny. Accepting the challenge makes him excited and joyful. While he is still weighed down by old beliefs, his decision to find a new source of cheese frees him. He begins to have fun. He envisions new kinds of cheeses. He tries again to get Hem to join him, but Hem has decided he wouldn't like new cheese even if he found it. We don't know what happens to him. He may well have starved.

Eventually Haw finds new cheese. The new source exceeds his dreams. In his quest, Haw has learned some things and developed a new philosophy:

• Change will happen. Anticipate it.
• Don't hang on to old illusions.
• Don't hang on to fear. Deal with it and discard what is irrational.
• Watch out for little changes in your situation. They may be harbingers of big changes.
• Be ready to adapt quickly to change by changing yourself.
• Enjoy change -- savor the adventure of going off in a new direction.
• Be ready to change again -- and remember, there's always new cheese out there.

There is nothing profound in this little book, yet it is the kind of book that quickly and usefully reminds you of something you need to know -- that, like it or not, change happens. Regardless of your field of endeavor, your happiness, your satisfaction, and your success depend on how you handle change. The church has basically ignored the changes happening to it during the past half century. The church's failure has adversely affected both the church and society in general. The changes affecting the church now may be greater than at any time in its history. Society desperately needs the church. It needs an institution that provides answers for life. Do we, the church, continue to ignore change, or do we learn to deal with it rationally and joyfully and begin to provide society with the moral answers it needs?

(See Dan Dick's review of Who Moved My Cheese?)

Tim Moss formerly served as director of designated laity leadershipfor the General Board of Discipleship. He retired January 1, 2002.

(originally posted July 1, 1999)

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