Who moved my Cheese?

"Who moved my Cheese?", by Spencer Johnson, is a fantastic little book, all about coping with change. I read it last year, and copped a fair amount of derisive comments from my colleagues at work. However when I needed to move on to pastures new towards the end of the year, its teachings were highly beneficial.

Using "Cheese" as a metaphor for whatever is important to you (good health, happiness, enjoyable work, etc. - you can use it in almost any context), the book tells the story of four mice, trapped in a maze (a metaphor for "life"), who wake up one day to discover that their supply of cheese has run out. The signs have been there for a while, but they were largely ignored. Now the mice must decide what to do - do they explore the maze, and find a new source of cheese, or complain bitterly, and ask why their cheese has been taken away, and sit morosely, waiting in a forlorn hope that it will be replaced.

After some deliberation, I made a list of what my work-based "Cheese" actually was:

- Doing work that's interesting and challenging
- Feeling valued and respected by my peers, and by management
- Working in a friendly team, who actually want to be there
- Having a salary that doesn't insult my wallet
- Having some formal training every now and then
- Working for a company that knows where it's going, and how it'll get there
- Wanting to go to work when I get out of bed in the mornings
- Feeling that I'm making a positive difference to the company

For many years at Epic I was quite content, because almost all of these "cheese" must-haves were there for me. From November 2006 onwards however, our team fell apart, and the work dried up, for various reasons which I won't go into. Throw in some managerial incompetence, and severe financial difficulties (for the company), and my mind was made up!

My new company is giving me all the cheese I require - and more. All it takes is a little courage to go looking for it, and it's there to be found. I strongly urge all those bereft of cheese, to make a list of what their "cheese" looks like, then to start looking for a new source - it'll make your life a lot more enjoyable.

All this talk of food is making me hungry... I'm off to find a cheese sandwich :)