Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson – Summary

Life happens to all of us, but it’s not what happens to us that’s important but how we react to it. Who Moved My Cheese? Is a book about dealing with change.

We are all resistant to change because change is uncomfortable. There is a fear of the unknown. In today’s fast-paced world, learning to deal with change is imperative.

Change is inevitable

Dr. Spencer Johnson was having a rough time in his personal life in 1979 he was going through a divorce.

That’s when he came up with the concept of Who moved my cheese. It’s a silly story about 4 characters the book, however, took another 20 years to come out.

We all have this notion If I could get the other person to change my life would be better.

Wrong!

Change starts with you.

In Who Moved my cheese, cheese here is the metaphor for what you want in life. It could be your measuring stick for success: money, fame, a good job, a loving spouse, or a happy family.

Change is inevitable. What works today will inevitably be defunct tomorrow. You can either accept it for what it is and move on or hold on to your past.

Who Moved My Cheese?

The 4 main characters in the story are Sniff and Scurry, Hem and Haw. Sniff and Scurry are mice and Hem and Haw are the little people trapped in a maze.

Each character represents a different attitude towards change. Every morning they would leave their home in search of cheese.

One fine day they find the cheese they’ve been looking for all along in cheese station C. Every morning Sniff and Scurry would run the same route to cheese station C.

Hem and Haw took it easy since they knew where the cheese was. They didn’t have that sense of urgency they did once since they thought that this cheese isn’t going anywhere. They became comfortable.

Sniff and Scurry inspected the situation every day and noticed some changes were happening. The supply of cheese was getting smaller.

One morning Sniff and scurry noticed that cheese station C was empty. They didn’t fret over what they saw and moved on, looking for fresh cheese.

Later that day Hem and Haw arrived at cheese station C and to their surprise, there was no cheese. Hem shouted at the top of his lungs, “Who moved my cheese?”.

Hem wanted things to be the way it once was. Meanwhile, Sniff and Scurry scurried along looking for new cheese and found their biggest store of cheese at Cheese Station N.

Hem and Haw were waiting for the cheese to be handed to them. It soon became evident to Haw that staying here and hoping their situation is going to get better is not going to cut it.

Hem was adamant that they stay in Cheese Station C but Haw had other ideas and decided to move on looking for new cheese.

Haw gathered all his courage and left cheese station C haw left clues about his new findings on the walls of the maze to help hem out.

Haw found morsels of new cheese on the way to keep his spirits going. Haw returned to cheese station C to tell Hem about his findings.

Haw found Hem frail, still stuck in the past hoping for the cheese to be given to him on cheese station C. Hem did not want to change.

Haw with renewed enthusiasm left cheese station C looking for new cheese, and then it happened. He struck gold on Cheese Station N with the Biggest Pile of cheese he’d ever seen.

He couldn’t believe it He saw sniff and scurry enjoying the cheese. This time, though, he’d learned a lesson not to get comfortable. He inspected the situation in cheese station N every day to not get complacent.

One day haw heard a voice coming outside the cheese station N could it be hem?

Had hem finally turned a corner in his life?

The END

or is it a new beginning?

Sniff detects change early and Scurry is quick to take action. Hem is resistant to change and haw adopts to change in time.

So who are you in the story?

Sniff, Scurry, Hem, or Haw?

Change is necessary

I know this sounds cliche but life begins at the end of our comfort zone. Change is absolutely necessary for our lives else we become stagnant at what we do.

It’s important to look back at our past and admire it or learn lessons from it, but it’s even more important to move on.

Think of it this way: your past is the rearview mirror you have your whole life ahead of you that is the windshield.