Who Moved My Cheese? - Dr. Spencer Johnson

The Big Idea
Cheese is a metaphor for what you want to have in life – whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, or spiritual peace of mind. Cheese is what we think will make us happy, and when circumstances take it away, different people deal with change in different ways. Four characters in this delightful parable represent parts of ourselves whenever we are confronted with change. Discover how you can let change work to your advantage and let it lead you to success!

The Maze
Four characters live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. The maze is where you spend time looking for what you want. It may be the organization you work in, the relationships you have in your life, or the community you live in.

Parts of All of Us
Two of the characters named Sniff and Scurry are mice. They represent parts of us that are simple and instinctive. Hem and Haw are the little people, representing those complex parts of us as human beings. Sometimes we are like Sniff, who anticipates change early by sniffing it out, or Scurry, who quickly scurries into action and adapts. Maybe we are more like Hem, who denies change and resists it out of fear, or Haw, who learns to adapt in time when he sees something better. Whatever part of us we choose, we all share the common need to find our way in the maze of life and succeed in changing times.

Wisdom in a Nutshell from Who Moved My Cheese?
• Anticipate change.
• Adapt quickly.
• Enjoy change.
• Be ready to change quickly, again and again.
• Having Cheese makes you happy.
• The more important your Cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.
• If you do not change, you can become extinct.
• Ask yourself “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?”
• Smell the Cheese often so you know when it is getting old.
• Movement in a new direction helps you find New Cheese.
• When you move beyond your fear, you feel free.
• Imagining myself enjoying New Cheese, even before I find it, leads me to it.
• The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find New Cheese.
• It is safer to search in the maze than remain in a cheeseless situation.
• Old beliefs do not lead you to New Cheese.
• When you see that you can find and enjoy New Cheese, you change course.
• Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.
• Read the Handwriting on the Wall
• Change happens. They keep moving the Cheese.
• Move with the Cheese and enjoy it!

The Story Behind the Story
Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. relates how the Cheese story has made a difference in the lives of many people all over the world. This simple parable has been credited with saving careers, marriages, and lives! NBC-TV Olympic broadcaster Charlie Jones heard the story and it helped him overcome his anger about being transferred from his usual Track and Field assignment to Swimming and Diving, where he had little experience. He realized his boss had “moved his cheese”, so he adapted, learned the two new sports, and in the process, found that doing something new made him feel young.

His boss soon recognized his new attitude and energy, and gave him better assignments. Charlie went on to enjoy more success and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Broadcaster’s Alley.

A Gathering
One sunny Sunday in Chicago, a group of former classmates gathered for lunch to catch up on each other’s lives, having attended their high school reunion the night before. The topic came around to change, and how each person experienced it. Michael tells the group The Story.

Who Moved My Cheese?
Everyday Hem, Haw, Sniff, and Scurry went about their business collecting and eating cheese. Every morning, the mice and little men put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their homes, and raced around the maze looking for their favorite Cheese.

They each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C. Every morning the mice and men headed over to Cheese Station C and soon they established their own routines.

Sniff and Scurry woke up early everyday, always following the same route. The mice would arrive at the station, tie their running shoes together, and hang them around their necks so they could get to them quickly whenever they needed to.
Hem and Haw followed the same routine for a while, but later on, they awoke a little later each day, dressed slower, and walked to Station C, always assuming there would be Cheese waiting for them. In fact, the little people put away their running shoes, and grew very comfortable in Station C. Later, this over-confidence turned into arrogance.

The mice, on the other hand, always inspected the area, and noticed the Cheese supply was getting smaller every day.

One morning they discovered there was no more cheese. The mice did not overanalyze things, they knew it was coming, so they simply untied their running shoes from their necks and put them on. The mice wasted no time and immediately ventured into the maze in search of New Cheese.

Hem and Haw arrived later, and having taken their Cheese for granted, they were surprised to find there was no more cheese. Hem yelled, “Who moved my Cheese?”
Because the Cheese was so important to them, the two little people spent too much time deciding what to do. They couldn’t believe the Cheese was gone.
After much whining, Haw suggested,

MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST STOP ANALYZING THE SITUATION SO MUCH AND JUST GET GOING AND FIND SOME NEW CHEESE.

While Hem and Haw were wasting time fretting over their situation, Sniff and Scurry had already found a great supply of New Cheese at Cheese Station N.

Haw began to imagine himself tasting and enjoying New Cheese. Hem refused to leave Cheese Station C. Haw also began to realize his fear was keeping him from leaving Hem and going back into the maze. He painted a picture in his mind of himself venturing out into the maze and eventually finding New Cheese.

Haw was in the habit of writing thoughts on the wall for Hem to read. Before leaving he wrote, “If you do not change, you become extinct.” Haw would write thoughts like these every now and then as he went about the maze, hoping Hem would venture out of Station C and read the handwriting on the wall.

Haw found a little cheese here and there. As he moved through the maze, he learned several things for himself:
• He needed to let go of his fears.
• He realized what lies out there could be a lot better, not worse.
• He should be alert in order to anticipate change, and next time, periodically smell the cheese to check if it is getting old.
And to learn these important lessons he had to tell himself:

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
He found a cheese station but it was empty. He realized that if he had moved sooner, he would have very likely found a good deal of New Cheese here. So he wrote on the wall:
• The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find New Cheese.
Haw went back to the cheeseless station to offer Hem some bits of Cheese he had picked up along the way. Hem turned it down because he wanted the cheese he was used to. Haw went back into the maze.
Haw soon came to realize:
• The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.
WHAT YOU ARE AFRAID OF IS NEVER AS BAD AS WHAT YOU IMAGINE.
• When you change what you believe, you change what you do.

Haw soon found New Cheese at Station N, and met up with his old friends Sniff and Scurry who looked like they had been there for quite some time because they had grown fat.

Haw reflected as he enjoyed his New Cheese. He realized many more things:
• He had been holding onto the illusion of Old Cheese that was no longer there.
• He had started to change as soon as he learned to laugh at his own mistakes, then he was able to let go and move on.
• Sniff and Scurry kept life simple. They didn’t overanalyze or overcomplicate things. They simply moved with the Cheese.
• The mistakes he made in the past can be used to plan for the future.
• Notice the little changes so you are better prepared for the big change that might be coming.
• The biggest inhibitor of change lies within your self. Nothing gets better until You change.

THERE IS ALWAYS NEW CHEESE OUT THERE.
While Haw still had a supply of cheese, he often went out and explored new areas in order to stay in touch with what was happening around him. He knew it was safer to be aware of his real choices than to isolate himself in his comfort zone.

A Discussion
Michael finished telling the story and the group of former classmates gathered at a hotel lounge later that evening for drinks. Each one could identify with one of the characters in the story. Nathan pointed out, “Change happens to all of us.” The group talked about how the parable related to the changes in their professional and personal lives.
• Nathan’s retail business suffered from unanticipated change. Their chain of small stores had to compete with mega-stores. These retail giants had huge inventory and low prices, forcing Nathan to close down some of the stores in their chain.
• Jessica’s encyclopedia company resisted change when someone suggested they sell their product in disk format. The idea was that disks would be cheaper to update and produce, and would sell for a fraction of the cost of actual hardbound encyclopedias. Jessica’s company didn’t change but their competitor did. Sales fell badly, and her job security became threatened. She may need to go out into the maze and look for New Cheese.
• Michael applied the story to his work, asking each person in his organization who they thought they were: Sniff, Scurry, Hem or Haw. He recognized each character type had to be treated differently.

Sniffs could sniff out changes in the marketplace, and update the corporate vision. They identified changes as well as possible new products and services consumers would want.

The Scurrys liked to get things done, so they took action based on the new corporate vision. They only needed to be monitored so they didn’t scurry off in the wrong direction.

The Hems wanted to work in a place that was safe and where the changes made sense to them, turning them into Haws. If they didn’t change, they were eventually fired.
The Haws were hesitant at first, but were open-minded enough to learn something new, and adapted.
• Richard realized how his children had been acting like Hem lately. They were angry and didn’t want to accept the change in their family, since Richard had recently separated from his wife.
• Jessica and Cory each recognized it was time for New Cheese in their personal relationships, which could mean getting out of a bad relationship, or adapting new behaviors to save the relationship.
• Richard also thought perhaps New Cheese could mean changing the way he behaved on the job rather than completely changing jobs.
• Michael concluded that the Cheese parable works best when everyone in the organization knows about it, because an organization can only change when enough people in it change. He added that passing the story on to people they wanted to do business with had proved profitable. They promoted themselves as that client’s New Cheese, which led to new business.

Fish Philosophy - My Views

By Radhakrishnan

Part of what I read in the book is as follows:

The FISH! Philosophy is a life-long learning approach that inspires us to feel alive and engaged in the work we do.

FISH! is an invitation to re-awaken the self-trusting, creative spirit within all of us. To start new conversations about what’s possible. To develop new attitudes.

A global phenomenon.

FISH! is alive in organizations throughout the world — large and small, in all industries — championed by business leaders and owners, HR and training professionals and individuals committed to creating a culture of trust, accountability and innovation.

The universal appeal of FISH!

The FISH! Philosophy has been embraced around the world. There are many reasons FISH! is welcomed by so many in so many organizations:

FISH! is a philosophy, not a program. You implement a program to change or fix people, but there’s nothing inspiring about being “programmed.” You can’t implement a philosophy. Instead you explore it, try it out and decide if it’s right for you. If it is, you live it because you believe in it.

FISH! is an invitation. The quickest way to kill FISH! is to mandate it. You can, however, invite people to be part of an environment in which people care about each other and their commitments. When people see these qualities flourishing in others, they want to join in because they want to improve their own lives, too.

FISH! creates a common language. Language changes everything. To begin to change anything, we have to change the way we speak about things, the way feel about things, and definitely the way we act about things day in and day out. The four principles of FISH! — Be There, Play, Make Their Day and Choose Your Attitude — are the basis of a new language everyone can understand and connect to instantly.

FISH! is genuine. Originally modeled by fishmongers who decided to choose their attitude and become world famous, The FISH! Philosophy gets into the hearts of minds of everyone at work. Focused on the individual first, FISH! is simple, common wisdom that everyone can embrace.

FISH! is playful. Creativity, inspiration and innovation are directly disproportionate to how tightly we’re wound! Nobody’s talking about throwing patients, spreadsheets, or hamburgers at one another like the guys throw fish in the original film. What we are talking about is throwing yourself into your work in a wholehearted and lighthearted way.

FISH! is an ongoing journey. FISH! cuts across all industries and all organizational departments, functions, goals and objectives. As a philosophy that’s infused into a culture over time, you can’t “do” FISH! and be done with it. It’s not the newest motivational fad. It’s not the flavor of the month. It’s an opportunity to create and be part of a group that honors individual spirit and the right to choose.

FISH! isn’t “something else” you have to do. In most cases, FISH! complements what you’re already doing — whether it’s launching a new company, new customer service initiative, new leadership style or any number of other learning programs tailored to specific organizational goals. Because FISH! is focused on “who you’re being while you’re doing what you’re doing,” The FISH! Philosophy is a powerful, flexible platform that can help spike and support many of your other goals and programs.


“Fish!” Resources

1. Books: Fish!; Fish! Tales; and Fish! Sticks

All three titles by Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, and Harry Paul

Latest: Fish! Omnibus(Special Edition - 3 Books in 1)

2. Web Address: www.fishphilosophy.com

Understanding Quality Education

By C. Radhakrishnan

The goal of achieving universal primary education has been on the international agenda since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirmed, in 1948, that elementary education was to be made freely and compulsorily available for all children in all nations. Upholding this principle, our constitution makers also made free and compulsory elementary education as one of the major features of the constitution. However, most of these declarations and commitments are silent about the quality of education to be provided. Even people, who heavily invest to start modern educational institutions, sometimes forget the need for quality. Education without quality is meaningless and useless.

Why Focus on Quality?

The achievement of universal education will be primarily dependent upon the quality of education available. For example, how well students are taught and how much they learn, can have a vital impact on how long they stay in school and how regularly they attend. Furthermore, whether parents send their children to school at all is likely to depend on judgements they make about the quality of teaching and learning provided – upon whether attending school is worth the time and cost for their children and for themselves. Schools help children develop creatively and emotionally and acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary for responsible, active and productive citizenship. How well education achieves these outcomes is important to those who use it. This aspect is a major area to be focused by edupreneurs, who invest a lot of money in starting high-fi schools. Merely filling spaces called ‘schools’ with world class infrastructure and facilities would not address even basic objectives if no real education occurred. Accordingly, edupreneurs, educators and policy makers alike should also find the issue of quality difficult to ignore.

Two Key Elements of Quality Education:

1. Cognitive development is identified as a major explicit objective of all education systems. If quality is defined in terms of cognitive achievement, ways of securing increased quality are neither clear-cut nor universal.
2. Education’s role lies in encouraging learners’ creative and emotional development, in supporting objectives of peace, citizenship and security, in promoting equality and in passing global and local cultural values down to future generations. Compared with cognitive development, the extent to which they are achieved is difficult to determine.

Evolution and Different View Points of Quality in Education:

1. The evolution of UNESCO’s conceptualization of quality:

One of UNESCO’s first position statements on quality in education appeared in ‘Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow’, the report of the International Commission on the Development of Education chaired by the former French minister Edgar Faure. The commission identified the fundamental goal of social change as the eradication of inequality and the establishment of an equitable democracy. Consequently, it reported, ‘the aim and content of education must be recreated, to allow both for the new features of society and the new features of democracy’. The notions of ‘lifelong learning’ and ‘relevance’, it noted, were particularly important. The Report strongly emphasized science and technology as well. Improving the quality of education, it stated, would require systems in which the principles of scientific development and modernisation could be learned in ways that respected learners’ socio-cultural contexts.

More than two decades later came ‘Learning: The Treasure Within’, Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by another French statesman, Jacques Delors. This commission saw education throughout life as based upon four pillars:

• Learning to know acknowledges that learners build their own knowledge daily, combining indigenous and ‘external’ elements.
• Learning to do focuses on the practical application of what is learned.
• Learning to live together addresses the critical skills for a life free from discrimination, where all have equal opportunity to develop themselves, their families and their communities.
• Learning to be emphasizes the skills needed for individuals to develop their full potential.

This conceptualization of education provided an integrated and comprehensive view of learning and, therefore, of what constitutes education quality.

The importance of good quality education was firmly reaffirmed as a priority for UNESCO at a Ministerial Round Table on Quality of Education, held in Paris in 2003.

UNESCO promotes access to good-quality education as a human right and supports a rights-based approach to all educational activities. Within this approach, learning is perceived to be affected at two levels. At the level of the learner, education needs to seek out and acknowledge learners’ prior knowledge, to recognize formal and informal modes, to practise non-discrimination and to provide a safe and supportive learning environment. At the level of the learning system, a support structure is needed to implement policies, enact legislation, and distribute resources and measure learning outcomes, so as to have the best possible impact on learning for all.

The aims of education, from the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 29 (1) - States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:
(a) The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;
(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;
(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;
(e) The development of respect for the natural environment.

2. The UNICEF approach to quality:

UNICEF strongly highlights what might be called desirable dimensions of quality, as identified in the Dakar Framework. Its paper Defining Quality in Education recognizes five dimensions of quality: learners, environments, content, processes and outcomes, founded on ‘the rights of the whole child, and all children, to survival, protection, development and participation’ (UNICEF, 2000). Like the dimensions of education quality identified by UNESCO those recognized by UNICEF draw on the philosophy of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

3. Quality in the humanist Tradition:

• Standardised, prescribed, externally defined or controlled curriculums are rejected. They are seen as undermining the possibilities for learners to construct their own meanings and for educational programmes to remain responsive to individual learners’ circumstances and needs.
• The role of assessment is to give learners information and feedback about the quality of their individual learning. It is integral to the learning process. Self-assessment and peer assessment are welcomed as ways of developing deeper awareness of learning.
• The teacher’s role is more that of facilitator than instructor.
• Social constructivism, while accepting these tenets, emphasizes learning as a process of social practice rather than the result of individual intervention.

4. Quality in the behaviourist tradition:
• Standardised, externally defined and controlled curriculum, based on prescribed objectives and defined independently of the learner, are endorsed.
• Assessment is seen as an objective measurement of learned behaviour against preset assessment criteria.
• Tests and examinations are considered central features of learning and the main means of planning and delivering rewards and punishments.
• The teacher directs learning, as the expert who controls stimuli and responses.
• Incremental learning tasks that reinforce desired associations in the mind of the learner are favoured.

5. Quality in the critical tradition
Critical theorists focus on inequality in access to and outcomes of education and on education’s role in legitimizing and reproducing social structures through its transmission of a certain type of knowledge that serves certain social groups. Accordingly, these sociologists and critical pedagogues tend to equate good quality with:
• education that prompts social change;
• a curriculum and teaching method that encourages critical analysis of social power relations and of ways in which formal knowledge is produced and transmitted;
• active participation by learners in the design of their own learning experience.

Conclusion:
Agreement about the objectives and aims of education will frame any discussion of quality and that such agreement embodies moral, political and epistemological issues that are frequently invisible or ignored. One of the most important challenges India faces even today is providing universal quality education. If we are actually dreaming of Kalam’s ‘Vision 2020’, it’s necessary to chalk out some framework or strategies to guarantee quality of education. In the present Globalised context a joint effort by the Government of India and major edupreneurs is very essential to tackle this issue.

Read, Learn & Flourish!