WHO MOVED MY CHEESE

WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

My company re-opened for business on Thursday, the 4^th of January 2013. Everyone looked refreshed and I was happy to see my colleagues. We had a short devotion at the lunch room, committing the new financial year to God.We settled at our various desks and logged into the company’s intranet to read the welcome back message from our MD. But instead of the usual title of “NEW YEAR GOODWILL MESSAGE”, we saw “CHANGES”.

I scanned through the post, and let out a sigh of relieve. There were shouts of Joy and distress screams coming out from different offices. 13 staff had been terminated, 22 staff had been promoted, and there had also been a reshuffling in management.

I sympathized with the people that had their appointment terminated. All but one felt their termination was unfair and unjustified. Ms. James (not real name) did not seem surprised, sad nor angered that her appointment was terminated. She said she had envisaged this day and had prepared ahead of time.

In the book, Who Moved My Cheese? A motivational book by Spencer Johnson, he noted that the humans (Hem and Haw) had counted on the cheese supply to be constant. One day; they got to the cheese station and realized there were no more cheeses. They were so unprepared for this situation and got angered at the unfairness of the situation and went home starved. 

One week after the changes in my company, the affected ex-staff are still enraged at the termination of their appointment; they come to work daily demanding to be reinstated in the former position. Ms. James, on the other hand comes to the office daily to sell her lovely sandwiches and recharge cards. Call it sympathy buying, but virtually all 64 staff patronizes her. 

In this year 2013, if you wake up one day to realize your cheese has been moved, would you like Hem demand, "Who moved my cheese"? Learn from people’s experience or maybe your past experience, inspect your cheese station daily and explore different parts of the maze regularly so to prevent any form complacency from setting in.