Who Moved My Cheese Book Summary

In this article, I represented Who Moved My Cheese Book Summary. This is a very short but effective book written by Dr. Spencer Johnson.

The core subject of this book is to cope with a change in life. As you know it is inevitable.

Change in your life is important either expected or unexpected. It affects you anyway.

In this book, the author explained the importance of managing change with the help of a story.

The Story

Station C

The whole story revolves around four characters, the two mice and two humans.

The mice Sniff and Scurry, and the humans Hem and Haw.

In this story, the author also used Cheese, which is used as a metaphor it can be money, relationship, job, work, or health.

He also used Maze that means an area, paths, or passages in which you can get lost very easily.

Those four characters live in a maze. And they look for cheese to survive because they loved cheese too much.

Every day they go out in the search for cheese. One day, they found a huge amount of cheese at station c.

Hem and Haw both are comfortable, they think it is will be enough for the whole life.

They become arrogant and think they are much better and superior than Sniff and Scurry.

On the other hand, the mice are vigilant and they always look for new cheese.

When one day Hem and Haw come to at the cheese station, they see the cheese runs out and disappears. And it becomes difficult to survive without the cheese.

Hem screams and says, who moved my cheese?

The humans start blaming each other. The Sniff and Scurry already foresaw for that reason they moved from there to search for new cheese.

Hem and Haw still stay at station c they hope the cheese will return. But, the situation gets worse.

 

Station N

Haw realises that Hem is not reluctant to leave the station c. So, Haw decides to follow the footprints of the mice.

He goes out in the search of cheese in the maze. He finds a little which he brings it to Hem.

But, Hem didn’t eat that cheese as he wants the cheese they ate before.

Haw again starts search for cheese and the mice. Finally, he finds a huge amount of cheese at station N. Sniff and Scurry were already there.

When Haw was searching cheese, he was also writing important lessons on the walls of the maze. He was thinking Hem will easily find them one day.

This time Haw is smarter than before. He checks the cheese every day and also searches for new cheese. He goes into the new areas of the maze where he has never been before.

He hopes Hem will read what he writes on the wall and understand the change in life.

In this story, the cheese for mice was just a food. And for humans, it was a metaphor, which is important for a happy life. It could be health, money, relationship, happiness, and work, etc.

 

Key Lessons from this Story

1. Change Happens

Change is part of your life. It happens and will. Your reaction to that change is more important.

How do you deal with the change is your option. It can be positive or negative. The reaction comes from inside.

You can see change is everywhere at work, home, in society, in the environment. It affects you in one way or another.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher truly said, ‘there is nothing permanent but change’.

You want the changes or not, you will face the change in all aspect of life.

The best way to cope with change in life is, keep things simple, and be flexible to change yourself with change.

Change yourself according to the situation. As you change yourself the situation and circumstances change.

 

Also read: The Changeable and Unchangeable Things in Life

 

2. Anticipate Change

Anticipating change means a proactive approach. Proactive people easily adapt and accept change.

On the other hand, reactive people find it hard to face change in life.

In the story, the mice realised and anticipated change as they were proactive. And the humans became comfortable without realising the change until cheese disappeared.

You must keep an eye on the changes which are taking place around you either in personal life or professional. The more you proactive, the better you manage the changes.

 

3. Adapt to Change Quickly

Adapting to change means accepting the circumstances and changing yourself quickly according to situation and circumstances.

As the cheese disappeared the mice adapted to the situation very quickly rather than blaming each other. They started exploring new cheese.

For example, if you lose a job you must adapt to the new situation rather than becoming stressed or frustrated. When you adapt quickly the mind relaxes and a relaxed mind can easily find a way.

But, remember adapting to change doesn’t mean you stay in that bad situation; rather you adapt and make a strategy to manage circumstances in a better way.

Always try to make things better, not to make them further harder.

Here, the catch is, you must be flexible and learn how to change and adapt.

 

4. Monitor Change

For effective management of change in life, you will have to keep an eye on the things around.

At the station N, Haw was vigilant and was controlling and monitoring cheese every day, because they already had a bad experience at station C.

Monitoring change means you will have to smell the cheese from time to time.

When you monitor the change you will be less stressed and surprised as the changes happen.

 

5. Enjoy the Change

You enjoy the change as you master to manage it effectively. Always be ready to change yourself quickly and enjoy it again and again.

Haw mentioned something important and it was, keep going with cheese and enjoying it.

You can enjoy the changes when you anticipate them. When you have a proactive approach it doesn’t surprise you.

Don’t be stressed or frustrated while coping with changes, rather enjoy them. The more you enjoy, the better you manage them.

 

Some other important lessons you can learn from this story. In difficult situations:

• Remain flexible
• Don’t make the things complex
• Make things simple
• Don’t be bitter, avoid blaming each other

Also read:The Miracle Morning Book Summary

 

Conclusion

Change is part of your life. You will face changes in your life. You can apply the knowledge of this story to manage changes.

You will face changes in your personal life, relationship, and professional life, and the real challenge will be managing it.

Hem and Haw are different from each other. They have different approaches to deal with change. Who do you want to become, Hem or Haw?

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who moved my cheese lesson?

Change happens and will happen. Anticipate, adapt, monitor, and enjoy the change.

 

Who moved my cheese what does the cheese represent?

Cheese is a metaphor that represents finance, relationship, work, job, business, etc.

 

What do the four characters in who moved my cheese?

In the story who moved my cheese there are four characters, the mice are Sniff and Scurry, and the human beings are Hem and Haw.

 

 

Please share this article, if you find value.