The story provides an analogy to change in our work and personal lives. It’s about 4 characters searching for Cheese in a Maze. Cheese represents the QTL licensing income, the Maze represents our complex world, and the 4 characters represent the 4 types of people we encounter in any change situation.
The Fable in a Nutshell:
It’s set in a maze, where the 2 mice (Sniff and Scurry) and 2 littlepeople (Hem and Haw) look for Cheese every day. One day, they find that their regular stash of cheese is gone! The mice and littlepeople respond very differently. Sniff and Scurry keep things simple and cope better with change, while Hem and Haw over-complicate things. The fable traces their simple journey, and how Haw eventually made his transition, found new cheese, and learned important lessons about life and change.
It is a short book. Highly recommended if you have not done so already. In my experience at Qualcomm, far too many of our management chain think they are smarter than everyone because they were a part of the machinery that found the initial starch of Cheese. The reality, unfortunately, is far different. These VPs and Sr Dirs are nothing more than “Hems” who have no ability to really handle changes in the market place.
The important question for you is who are you? What are you most similar to? Are you a Sniff, a Scurry, a Haw, or a Hem?
As for me, I’m a Sniff and I tried my best to get the company to explore other areas of the maze for Cheese. When the Hems eventually won out. I volunteered for the package and left the Cheese-less place to take my destiny in my own hands.
https://readingraphics.com/book-summary-who-moved-my-cheese/