This week’s post is a guest entry by Jerre Brisky from the Making Way for Excellence Communications Team reviewing Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, MD.

Every time I hear or say the title of this article, I’m immediately transported back to a four-letter word saying that was popular when I was in high school and college. It basically meant the same thing, but it usually followed an occurrence that wasn’t considered positive. When I was first given Who Moved My Cheese? years ago, I didn’t place much stock in it. After all, it is a fairly short book with a large font size and really looks much more like a children’s book than one for adults. I’m also not one to endorse self-help kind of books in general. But following some important changes in my life a few years ago, I happened upon the book again, reread it and was truly moved.

The story revolves around 4 main characters – Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw. Their names represent reactions to a major change in the status quo. As you can imagine Sniff and Scurry are quick to accept the change and move forward, while Hem and Haw question why things have to change and refuse to accept the changes that have already occurred around them.

No one can deny that over the last year to year and a half there have been numerous changes that we have all faced within the university as well as within society as a whole. Between the change in the administration and the questions that arose at that time to the ongoing budget cuts, it can be hard to maintain a hopeful outlook for the future. But if we accept the change and move forward expecting a positive outcome, we are most often awarded with that positive experience.

If you’ve never read Who Moved My Cheese? I definitely recommend picking it up. And if it has been years since you last read it, revisit it. It is a short read and can really help focus how you see the world. Shortly after I reread the book over Christmas Break, I received a very applicable fortune with a Chinese take-out order. “We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.” This fortune is now taped on my door at eye level, so I can read it every day as I unlock my office.