The Hidden Edge

Who Moved My Cheese?  Dr Spencer Johnson writes this parable in the similar format as his other best seller, The One Minute Manager.  Whilst I had been a little sceptical about buying this book – I did find it in Oxfam for £1.99 and now felt that it was worth the investment risk!  ;0) 

I have read some very interesting stuff on managing change but what I did like about this parable is that it is: – a parable.  Therefore it gives the inherent problems with change; denial, resistance, dissatisfaction and action; a whimsical language and point of reference for groups of people facing such a challenge. 

There are three parts to the book; a preamble where a school reunion takes place, the telling of the parable itself, then the evaluation of the same with each member applying the learning points to different scenarios.  Whilst it might be tempting to skip the last part – stay with it.  It is the most valuable – at least for pragmatists like me. 

There are four characters in the parable; Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw.  Each takes one of the combinations of being ready/not ready and willing/not willing.  Able doesn’t seem to come into it as those who are both ready and willing will overcome ability obstacles.

All four find themselves happily at Cheese Station 3, a prosperous location within a Maze with a seemingly endless Cheese ‘source’.  It is worth noting, here, that ‘Cheese’ is the collective given to all things that you want in (and out of) your life.   Alas the Cheese runs out at Cheese Station 3 and the story continues with the adventures of: 

Sniff (bold and adventurous ready to sniff out the next ‘Choice’ Cheese Station)

• Scurry (action orientated and results driven who follows Sniff’s lead)
• Hem (the critical thinker whose capacity for concern and control overrides his need for new Cheese)
• Haw (hesitant, yet realistic and sensible who heads out leaving a path for others to follow)

Key learning points:  Dissatisfaction: what do you need to let go of?  Vision: what do you need to move on to?  These are two of three items I think you need to consider when dealing with change; the third is to determine the first steps you need to take to move you towards your vision. 

Other key learning points that come up are: 

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?  Every Cheese has a shelf life!  You can move your own Cheese! Old Cheese could well be old behaviours rather than old situations. Get the right peer pressure prevalent then no one will want to look like Hem! 

And now a dilemma.  Do I send you off to a highly amusing skit by John Cheese (ops sorry Cleese) albeit very old, a bit too long, but still funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3c3qJIwMDc 

Or do I send you off to a really cheesy après Ski song - Say Cheese! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGtO6bAvfaY 

Tell you what?  You cheese! (Ops, sorry I mean choose!)

A move away from the content of the last few Blogs on to a more light hearted, nay flippant, look at Chicken Soup.  There are umpteen books under the auspices of Chicken Soup for the Soul of which I have but one - Chicken Soup for the Soul in Business.  For other versions please see http://www.chickensoup.com/   

The underlying concept of these best sellers is that there are some great stories that give comfort that things will be all right in the end. Each book is a collection of stories that overcomes adversity or tragedy and gives one a feeling of contentment.  Just as chicken soup does in real life!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_soup   

And if you are still not sure have a listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOpJdP7NEJ0  

Of course, you may be just a little sceptical about the powers of Chicken Soup and perhaps justifiably; if it is lace with too much sugar.  The overwhelming chicken soup sentiment can turn if it is not careful into what is now known as Glurge.  http://www.snopes.com/glurge/glurge.asp 

My preference is for Heinz Tomato Soup.  I vote that you can do no better and I strongly recommend it to all men!  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/28/scisoup128.xml    If you enjoy reading my Blogs, then click on comments then RSS and you will receive and update as an when I post a new Blog.

At the end of a rather wet and windy Weymouth bank holiday weekend, the sun has come out just in time to put fingers to keyboard to type set this week’s Blog. 

As usual, I got diverted when I started reading this newsletter article in World Wide Words, to which I subscribe:  http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/kfty.htm#N5

The content in this article took me back to Lynne Trusses book that I had been reading over the last May bank holiday Eats, Shoots and Leaves.  She eloquently describes punctuation as being the art of separating the parts of written composition so that the meaning can be readily understood. 

The value of sharp punctuation, in sales copy, cannot be over estimated.  It does not necessarily have to follow the grammatical rules.  Indeed, in advertising copy, quite often the position or exclusion of punctuation accentuates wit.

“A woman, without her man, is nothing. 

A woman: without her, man is nothing.” 

Another of the quotes I love from Lynne Trusses book; “punctuation points up – rather in the manner of musical notation – such literary qualities as rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow.”   

If you want your copy to be read in the way that you wish, then you must punctuate accordingly to let your sentences contain a pleasant rhythm. 

This is superbly illustrated by Dean Martin and Victor Borge? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L02tCNi0I Enjoy!

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According to Tori Amos; “You’ll never gain weight from a doughnut hole!  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlycQ8N3lEE&mode=related&search= 

I think this is something that Charles Handy would not only smile at but probably concur. 

In his book, The Empty Raincoat (chapter 4 for those of you who don’t want to read the whole book) Handy suggests our lives can be likened to a doughnut.   

The circumference of your (ring) doughnut is only so big.  The more you stretch the doughnut hole with the duties you have (to be successful in business) the less doughnut there is left.  These may be self imposed duties or they maybe duties that have been mapped out for you by over zealous E-Myth http://www.e-myth.com/converts. 

Whichever the scenario the remaining outer rim of your doughnut is all the time you have for creativity in your business and other important but fun stuff in your life.   

This leads to a paradox and Handy is fond of those.  Your friends and family like you better when you are less successful; as you have more time to listen to them, appreciate them, and have fun with them.  The chances are that you, too, like your friends better, when they are not quite so successful, for the same reason. 

Interesting questions for the professional business start up.  What is success for you and does it impinge on your doughnut time or are you doing something you love so much that the your doughnut is just full of jam?

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