Dude, who moved my cheese?
March 7, 2009
Last night my husband Andrew and I sat around the dinner table and were talking about the volatility of the job market and the threat of losing our jobs. I am sure this is a common discussion between couples these days, and most often associated with worry frowns and sighs of frustrations. But for us, the discussion was one of possibility, because with change comes opportunity.
Andrew told me the story of a few rats who had found a great pile of cheddar cheese. They were nibbling on the cheese and cooing with delight, “Oh how marvelous to have such a wonderful piece of cheese!” After a few days, the cheese pile got noticeably smaller. Most of the rats were too busy enjoying the cheese to care, “oh what yummy cheese!” But one rat decided to plan for the future, and went off to find more cheese. Finally, the original pile of cheese disappeared, and all the rats with their full bellies cried in disbelief, “who moved my cheese?!” They were paralyzed with confusion. Meanwhile, the other little rat who had moved on had found a wonderful piece of brie and was as happy as can be.
Apparently, Andrew’s company (which happened to be one of Fortune’s top ranked companies to work for) had passed out the “who moved my cheese” story to employees to help them see the good in change. The brilliant thing about this story is that it is so memorable and easy to tell. I have to admit that I have never read it (sorry publishers), but I was able to retell it after Andrew told me (with some creative licence, of course).
I heard yesterday from a top HR consultant that with the recession, people are paralyzed in their careers and voluntary turnover rates are hitting record lows. Employees are showing extreme loyalty even to companies whose future does not look promising. While the recession is a time for caution, don’t be so resistant of change that you are left asking “Dude, who moved my cheese?”
And if change finds you through a layoff or other means, seize the opportunity to discover a new peice of cheese. It just may turn out that you prefer Brie to cheddar.
