Originally published in 1998, Who Moved My Cheese has become a classic business book used to help understand change and its consequences. I distinctly remember reading it and that it had a profound impact on me—way before I had my cheese moved a few times!
Change is hard, and it is especially hard for successful companies. When you are on top of the pile, it is easy to believe you can keep doing what you’ve been doing and still stay on top.
The reality of life today, however, is that change is occurring at what seems to be the speed of light. Just look at the explosive growth of e-commerce. There is no denying that this growth was spurred by the pandemic, but the pandemic is also a great example of an unexpected change.
All of us should keep a close eye on trends and developments that could impact our businesses, regardless of whether our companies are at the top, in the middle, or at the bottom of the pack. And we need to be prepared to react to those changes. I think we all need to constantly question whether what we are doing today will keep us successful tomorrow.
See also: Clark: Why change management is so difficult
I am not suggesting that you change your business model based on every fad or new company that enters your arena. However, I am suggesting that you be open to accepting new ideas that can make you more efficient or in some way better, faster, stronger. Or whatever metric you use to measure success and relevancy.
This means opening yourself up to new voices with different life experiences and different perspectives on a situation. Not all their ideas will be brilliant, but I am betting that if you widen the range of voices you seek input from, you will uncover some great new ideas that you can implement to continue to stay ahead of the competition.
Whether we like it or not, our “cheese” is going to be moved from time to time, and strategies and tactics we employed in the past are no longer going to be relevant.
Don’t be blinded by the view from the top of the hill, or you might find yourself sliding down it very quickly, and there likely won't be cheese at the bottom.
