Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson

Change is all things good and bad. It can bring joy and happiness, but while that happiness is taking shape it is being altered. By the bad change. Some try and run away from chance, never looking back as it slowly follows. While some embrace it, allowing it to swallow them. There is also a space between the two. That space between is where a majority of us lie. We run from what we presume is bad and welcome what we believe to be good. Yes most people react to chance differently. But we all are being treated with different kinds of change.

There are many reasons why people fear change. One of the major reasons is the loss of control that can be experienced during change. They fear that they will lose control of their territory and they lose their sense of self-defense (Ten Reasons People Resist Change). This is shown when in Jenny’s

“How many things have to happen to you,” Robert Frost Writes, “before something occurs to you?” A person wakes up every morning to the same gray walls and eats the same flavorless slop. Seeing no changes they seem to ask themselves if life is worth living. They are unhappy but are afraid of new environments and unknown areas. Wishing things can go back to when their worries were as simple as trying to memorize the multiplication tables. Although it is written that change is in every person’s destiny, there are several reasons a person might or might not seek out change. For instance, a person’s environment or way of living can be one of the hardest things to change. Living in the projects, bills to pay and people to obey are a few reasons many steer away from change. Secondly unexpected life events like suddenly having to become a parent and learning how to raise a baby while trying to balance sudden deaths that may occur. Thirdly, discovering a person’s true emotions for another human being can create what I like to call a domino effect. Whether you consider the environment to be the atmosphere around you or the place to which a person calls home, one thing is certain that in any environment a person must adjust in order to survive, and through any adjustments comes change.

People are afraid of change it will change their perspective in life. They are really scared of change, it might change the way they think about others, they’re so used to the other life they feel like there is no need to change at

The Changeable nature of life affects us all somehow. Whether it be moving to a new city, having children, or losing people that we love, it can affect people in many different ways. For example, in the novel, the main character

Many people may resist change because they fear they will lose their jobs, status or position. It may be because they do not fully understand the purpose of change, or they may have a different perspective on the change than their management. “Individuals, groups, and organizations must be motivated to change. But if people perceive no performance gap or if they consider the gap unimportant, they will not have this motivation. Moreover, they will resist changes that others try to introduce,” Bateman and Zeithaml explained. Many times change for people at work

And to adapt is hard during change, especially if not prepared

The more active the participants are in the planning, the less resistance there will be later (Sullivan & Decker). If staff does not trust leadership, does not share the organization's vision, does not buy into the reason for change, and aren't included in the planning, there will be no successful change, regardless of how brilliant the strategy (Goman, 2000). How people react to change is important to understand. Change takes an emotional toll on people, some more than others. It is important not to underestimate that toll and understand who will have a harder time adapting to change. Fear of change has many roots. Those roots can be a lack of trust, fear of failure, fear of loss of income or a belief that the change is unnecessary (Sullivan & Decker). By understanding the reason for the resistance a manager can help the employee overcome his or her fear and become a supporter of the change. The last two steps are to provide feedback mechanisms to keep everyone informed of the progress of change and evaluate the effectiveness of change (Sullivan & Decker). People need to be kept informed of the change process to minimize anxiety. Sometimes there are unexpected consequences to the change, and it is important to have a system in place for those consequences to be discussed and if needed more changes made in order to accommodate those consequences.

A fear of change blocks our minds to receive it when we have to, his

"Who Moved My Cheese?" tells a story of change, of how we react to it, and the trouble we can find ourselves in when we don't follow that change. The story is about four characters, two mice, and two "little people." The characters live in a maze chasing cheese. The cheese represents anything we chase after in life and believe it will make us happy. The story details the trials and troubles we all have in daily lives.

Furthermore, another reason people fear change is because they fear the past might replicate itself (Radwan). This reason links to the fear of failure in a way. As an illustration, a woman who

Since human beings are adaptive and familiar with change, how is it that they often resist change in their work environment? This question had troubled managers since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the fast peace of change required by the electronic age has made

1. Explain the personalities of Hem, Haw, Sniff and Scurry? Explain why they behave the way they do.

Change is undeniable fact of life and change in healthcare is not different. Often, the changes are small, easily missed, and quickly accepted. Other changes are large, sweeping in scope, and cause a great deal of stress in those not prepared for it. Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson, is a short parable about four different characters adapting or not adapting to unexpected change. This story and the lessons it contains, can serve as a guideline to adapting to change in both one’s professional and personal life. But change is a difficult and frightening experience, and resistance to change is often also an undeniable fact of life.

Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my cheese?: An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life. New York: