The author tells a tale of change, of how we react to it, and the dire straits we can find ourselves in when we don't follow that change. The story is told in simple terms, so simply that one might think there is little value in the story. And yet after hearing "Who Moved My Cheese?"

The story concerns four characters, two mice, and two "little people." The characters live in a maze chasing after cheese. Of course the cheese is intended to be a metaphor for anything we chase after in life that we believe will make us happy. As in life, the characters are never sure why the cheese is placed in the maze, nor the source of the cheese.

Hem and Haw, along with two little mice Sniff and Scurry, search actively for cheese in a maze. When they find it, they visit the place everyday. Slowly, complacency grips Hem and Haw. They lose drive and begin to take the cheese for granted. As a result, when one fine morning they find their usual place empty of cheese, they are taken completely by surprise.

The story line runs like this:

Sniff and scurry had anticipated the change and thus they were able to digest that the cheese is no longer there.

Therefore, they started exploring the maze for more cheese.

And finally they were able to find the new cheese

While, Hem & Haw keep on sticking to their old work-habits and attitudes, wishing uselessly that the cheese would come back by itself. When it doesn't, Haw is the first to recover. He accepts reality and confronts his fear. He asks himself, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" This helps him overcome his neurotic fear and change with the changed situation. In doing so he regains his lost vitality and happiness and realizes that inactivity is worse than any activity. Soon enough Haw discovers new cheese. But wizened from his experience, he never grows too comfortable for change to take him by surprise again.

Change happens Anticipate change Monitor change Adapt to change quickly Change! Enjoy the change Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it

again!

The book is totally devoted to strategies of reducing the painful effects of change from an individual's perspective. It doesn't delve into the negative effects of change on an organizational level. The moot point is that not all change need to be for the good. And in such cases, it might be better to resist change than yield unquestioningly to its extended arms.

Thank-you

Thank-you