“One of the most successful business books ever,” declares the cover. “Over 12 Million Copies Sold Worldwide,” boasts the blurb at the back. “Who Moved My Cheese?” asks the title.
To those who don’t have the slightest idea as to what this book is about, the title may seem a bit inappropriate, comical even, for something that’s being marketed as a best-selling business book. I have to admit that I myself didn’t have a clue as to how a book with the word cheese in its title could possibly go on to sell millions and even serve as inspiration to an old Pizza Hut commercial starring Diether Ocampo. That was up until recently, when a co-worker and friend of mine went out of her way to lend me her copy of Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way To Deal With Change In Your Work And In Your Life.
A decade after its first publication, one may be of the opinion that the book, and by extension this confessedly cheesy book review, has become simply irrelevant. But let me preempt you from thinking so by saying that Who Moved My Cheese? is as relevant today as it was ten years ago, owing to the fact that the theme of the book is about dealing with what was taking place then, what took place in between then and now, and what is surely taking place right now: Change.
Written by Spencer Johnson, author of a number of other motivational books such as The One-Minute Manager and the ValueTales series for children, WMMC? tells the fabular story of two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two “little people” named Hem and Haw. These four characters inhabit a maze, through which they must navigate their way in search of their all-important source of nourishment and happiness: Cheese.
Our tale begins with the “cheeseless” foursome setting out to find cheese within the maze. After much sniffing and scurrying, the two mice arrive at a corner of the maze called Cheese Station C. They are pleased with what they come across there, a huge chunk of cheese that could provide them with sustenance, and they go home with their tummies full. The two little people, Hem and Haw, by means of their complex thinking and decision-making, also reach Cheese Station C and are delighted as well to realize that they won’t have to worry anymore about searching for cheese in their labyrinthine habitat since what they have at Cheese Station C is sure to last them a lifetime. Or is it really?
After some time, Sniff and Scurry turn up at Cheese Station C only to find that it is now empty. They had noticed over the preceding days that the amount of cheese in the station was gradually decreasing and so they had anticipated this time when they would run out of cheese. Armed with their instincts and special skills, they immediately set out to find cheese in other places within the maze. Unfortunately though for our miniature fellows, Hem and Haw are shocked to find no trace, not even a tiny remnant, of their beloved chunk of cheese in Cheese Station C. Haw is stumped, not knowing what to do with the problem on hand, while Hem, in his indignation, asks the pivotal titular question, “Who moved my cheese?”
In WMMC?, cheese is a metaphor for something that makes you happy. It could mean a good job, a good deal of money, or a good relationship with your significant other. The maze, on the other hand, is a representation of the place or environment where you strive to achieve what makes you happy. It could be the company where you work, the business you are running or the place you call home. For their part, the four characters in WMMC? can be interpreted as depictions of how you generally react to changes that are happening around you. Are you like Sniff, who “sniffs” signs of change and anticipates it? Or Scurry, who “scurries” to act the moment change takes place? Perhaps you are like Hem, who refuses to acknowledge change and is afraid to step out of his comfort zone. Then again, maybe you are able to see yourself in Haw, who near the end of the story eventually comprehends their cheeseless situation, laughs at himself for not realizing earlier what really happened, lets go of his inhibitions, and gets out of the now empty Cheese Station C and into the unknown yet potentially “cheeseful” corners and corridors of the maze—a decision that ultimately makes him adapt to changes and leads him to a place called Cheese Station N, where he finds cheese of all shapes, sizes, textures and flavors.
Despite its very straightforward and simplistic style of storytelling, WMMC? is reputed to have paved the way for numerous success stories and is known to be a favorite among CEOs around the world, many of them claiming to have ordered copies of the book for their employees to read. It can be difficult at first to understand how a simple story, spanning only 96 pages of words set in 20-pt. font size, can strike a chord among bigwigs and ordinary people alike, but if you would only ignore that funny little note on Wikipedia (“With over five million copies in print, Who Moved My Cheese? is the only book created that no one ever read.”) and set aside around 60 minutes to read WMMC?, you might—just might—see for yourself that this little book holds bits of wisdom that you could live by as you go about looking for cheese, keeping your cheese or even moving with your cheese in this maze we like to call life.
I’m a Hem, by the way. And I bet my refrigerated American cheese singles that you are, too.
