Seeking Cheese

 Seeking Cheese

Once in a while, a business book will appear that completely changes the way people in the business world think about a certain topic. Spencer Johnson's "Who Moved My Cheese" was a humorous title for one of these books. Presented in a child-friendly style, this little book contains fundamental insights that will revolutionize the way any firm tackles the marketplace.

The book has been his most influential tool for assisting laid-off workers in accepting their new position. The ideas presented in "Who Moved My Cheese" are straightforward, but they have the potential to affect almost every facet of commercial transactions.

A mouse discovers that his usual cheese-finding spot is no longer trustworthy; this is the moral of the story told in the book. The mouse's companion keeps returning to the same spot in search of additional cheese, but his hunger only grows. However, our hero discovers where his cheese has moved.

In addition to being amazed by the abundance of cheese when he discovers his new source, our hero is also bewildered because his friend insists on keeping his cheese in the same old spot, even after he tells him about the new source.

Clearly, this is not a story about where to find cheese. An allegory for adapting to new circumstances. The lesson of "Who Moved My Cheese" is that we should not rely on a single source for all of our needs. Some markets dry up, some companies go through slumps where they have to lay off good employees, and other sources of income change.

However, one thing is certain: Some markets will always have a fresh source of capital. Businesses that are astute enough to anticipate market shifts can then adjust their strategies accordingly, following the herd to unearth untapped sources of wealthy capital.

Seeking employment is simply one aspect of this story. However, it highlights the hardships faced by those without jobs. When people lose their jobs, it's easy for them to fall into a rut of either hoping their previous employer will recruit them again or searching for a position that's virtually comparable but in a different industry. 

Rich funding sources and employment opportunities may have dried up in that sector if the economy is struggling or if the industry's business model has undergone significant changes. To put it briefly, the cheese has shifted.

This class offers valuable insights on business that go beyond the realm of employment. Companies that have mastered the art of market adaptation and have evolved to accommodate the new "cheese" source are the ones that continue to thrive after all these years. Such a shift has occurred in the supermarket industry. In the meantime, many supermarkets went bankrupt as customers waited for cheese to return to its previous standard. 

However, some businesses were able to adapt to the new business model, discover unmet consumer needs in niches, or fight off the invasion of big-box discounters like Walmart. The record industry and the book sales business environment have also been profoundly affected by the rise of online shopping, and as a result, companies in these sectors have had to figure out who moved their cheese.

Still, those companies are still around today. We can learn a lot from their aggressiveness and ability to move with the market as we search for a new "cheese" supply. 

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