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I thoroughly enjoyed reading Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. Johnson does an excellent job of simplifying the complexities of the change process through the use of four fictional characters. I believe the author intentionally chose to use two mice and two “little people” in the parable about change. The mice, Sniff and Scurry, deal with change rather simplistically. Being animals, the mice are more adaptable to change and react to the loss of the “cheese” instinctively. They “keep their running shoes around their neck”, waste no time analyzing the cause of their loss, and immediately go in search of a new cheese. On the other hand, the “little people”, Hem and Haw, are about the size of the mice but possess human traits. Such traits as intelligence and emotions complicate their responses to change. Hem and Haw react emotionally to the loss of the “cheese” and waste valuable time analyzing their loss instead of going in search of a new “cheese”. Haw eventually moves beyond his emotions and uses his intellect to successfully face and overcome the sudden change. However, Hem’s paralyzing fear of change prevents him from successfully overcoming the loss of the “cheese” and eventually leads to his untimely death. It is through the characters’ responses to change or the “moving of the cheese” that many leadership qualities can be identified. I have chosen to identify the qualities in reference to their implications for an educational leader such as a school principal.
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