Thursday, 12 March 2009
They Moved Our Cheese
I was recently re-reading the simply written but powerful life/management book Who Moved My Cheese' By Dr. Spencer Johnson. If you haven’t read the book (if that’s even possible) it uses a simple story to highlight how our aversion to change can cause us a lot of pain and wasted opportunities in life. To help remind myself of the simple principles in this book, I’ve summarised them below.
Change Happens – They Keep Moving The Cheese
We are going through one of the most turbulent times in modern history. The economic infrastructure of our world has been heavily shaken, bringing changes to millions. If we took change for granted before, hopefully we’re a bit more aware of this now. We need this awareness and acceptance of change to deal with issues such as pollution, waste-management, and global warming which will be even more pressing in coming years.
Anticipate Change – Get ready for the cheese to move
Following on from our last point, we have the proof now that significant and far reaching change can happen to the world we live in, not just in our personal lives. Getting ready for change, preparing for its repercussions is critical to being able to deal with it effectively.
Monitor Change – Smell the cheese often so you know when it’s getting old
Monitoring change in out industry, our jobs and our society is critical to preparing ourselves to deal with change. This is easier than ever know with the information that the internet puts at our fingertips. Tools like twitter, facebook, Digg etc are great ‘change detection’ tools. Leveraging the power of communities to monitor our world and any shifts.
Change – Move with the cheese
The collapse of many leading financial and manufacturing giants and the resulting job-losses are disturbing, and certainly changes our world. But these changes can bring befits if we are willing to be flexible. A recent U.N report indicated that up to 10 million ‘green’ jobs could be created to restore forest world-wide. As the traditional employers of the past fail us, can we find other fields that can generate jobs as well as help us change our planet for the better? I’m confident we can if we stay flexible and move with the changes.
Enjoy Change – Savour the adventure and enjoy the taste of new cheese
I recently created a big change in my life, moving from a regular office worker to a freelance marketing consultant. At first this change was very challenging and difficult, but as I got to enjoy the change, and really lean into it I’ve been savouring the adventure I’ve been having so far. This doesn’t mean it’s all been peachy, there have been up and downs, but overall I’m enjoying the challenge.
Be Ready To Change Quickly – And enjoy change again and again
One of the main reasons I changed my office worker life for that of a freelance online marketing consultant was to open myself up for bigger and better changes. For business, the current online environment provides only one constant, a guarantee that changes will happen. The way companies communicate with clients is changing, fast, and it will keep changing. Better to enjoy and savour this change, and make yourself ready to deal with it than hold on to old habits irrationally.
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