This is another amazing way to deal with change either in your work or in your life. This book was written by Dr. Spencer Johnson.


Cheese was used as the metaphor for what we want to have in life whether it is a job, a relationship, money, freedom etc etc. Each of us have our own idea of what cheese is and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy. If we get it we become attached to it and if we loose it it can turn to be traumatic. Let me share with you on the story in a simple and summary form so that it ease your reading capability.

The story started with 4 little characters in a maze looking for cheese to nourish and make them happy. Two of them were mice named "Sniff & Scurry" and the other two little people named "Hem and Haw".

Every morning the mice and the little people dressed in their running gear and headed over to cheese station C where they found their own kind of cheese. It was a large store of cheese that Hem and Haw eventually moved their homes to be closer to it. In order to make themselves feel at home their deco on the wall read " Having Cheese makes you happy".

One Morning, Sniff and Scurry arrived at the Cheese station C and discovered there was no cheese. They weren't surprised. They had noticed all this while that their supply of cheese had been getting smaller everyday, both of them were prepared for this inevitable and knew instinctively what to do. They quickly ran off in search of new cheese.

Later the same day, Hem and Hew arrived. "What no cheese? Who moved my cheese? It's not fair!" Hem yelled. Both of them went home hungry and discouraged. But then before they left Haw wrote on the wall:

"The more Imporant your cheese is to you, the more you want to hold onto it."

The next day Hem and Haw left their home and returned to the Cheese station C. But then the situation hadn't changed.

Haw asked "Where are Sniff and Scurry? Do you think they know something we don't?"

Hem scoofed, " What would they know? They're just simple mice. They just respond to what happens. We're little people. We're smarter."

Haw suggested, "Maybe we should stop analyzing the situation so much and just get going and find some new cheese."

Haw decided to leave while Hem was more confortable to stay at that station. Haw announced, "it's maze time!" and wrote : If you do not change, you become extinct.

In the meantime, Sniff and Scurrywent further into the maze until they found Cheese Station N. They found what they had been looking for : a great supply of New Cheese. It was the biggest store of cheese the mice had ever seen.

Haw on the other hand become more anxious and wondered if he really wanted to go out into the maze. He wrote a saying on the wall ahead of him and stared at it for some time :

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Haw now relised that the change probably would not have taken him by surprise if he had been watching what was happening all along and if he had anticipated change. He stopped for a rest and wrote on the wall of the maze:

Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old.

Haw wondered if Hem had moved on, or if he was still paralysed by his own fears. Then Haw remembered the times when he had felt his best in the maze. It was when he was moving along. He wrote :

Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.

As Haw started running down the dark corridor, he began to smile. Haw didn't relize it yet, but he was discovering what nourished his soul. He was letting go and trusting what lay ahead for him, even though he did not konw exactly what it was. To his surprise, Haw started to enjoy himself more and more. He stopped to write again on the wall :

When you move beyond your fear, you feel free.

To make things even better, Haw started to paint a picture in his mind again. He saw himself in great realistic detail, sitting in the middle of a pile of all his favourite cheeses- from cheddar to brie! He saw himself eating the many cheeses he liked and he enjoyed what he saw. The more clearly he saw the image of himself enjoying New Cheese, the more real and believable it became. He again wrote :

Imagining myself enjoying new cheese, even before I find it, leads me to it.

Haw wondered why he had always thought that a change would lead to something worse. Now he realized that change could lead to something better. Then he raced through the maze with greater strength and agility. Until he found bits of New Cheese. He entered the Cheese Station but it was empty. Someone had already been there. He stopped and wrote:

The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.

Haw made his way back to cheese station C to offer Hem bits of new cheese but was turned down. Hem wanted his own chees back. Haw just shook his head in disappointment but this does not stop him from finding new cheese. He smiled as he realized:

It is safer to search in the maze than remain in the cheeseless situation.

Haw realized again, that what you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists. He realizes it was natural for change to continually occur, whether you expect it or not. Change could surprise you only if you didn't expect it and weren't looking for it. When he realised he had changed his beliefs, he paused to write on the wall :

Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese.

Haw now realised that his new beliefs were encouraging him to behave in a new way. He was behaving differently from the way he had when he kept running to the same cheeseless station. It all depends on what you choose to believe. He again wrote :

When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course.

Haw just hoped he was heading in the right direction. He thought about the possibility that Hem would read the handwriting on the wall and find his way. He wrote on the wall what he had been thinking about for some time:

Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.

He continued on through the maze with greater strength and speed. He proceeded along a corridor that was new to him, rounded a corner and he found a new cheese at cheese station N where he saw the greatest supply of cheese he had ever seen. Sniff and Scurry welcomed him.

"Hooray for change"

Haw wrote down a summary of what he had learned on the largest wall of cheese station N and smiled as he looked at what he had learned:

The handwriting on the wall states :

• Change happens
• Anticipate change
• Monitor Change
• Adapt to change quickly
• Change
• Enjoy change
• Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again

Move with the cheese and enjoy it.