Who Moved My Cheese?

Ken Blanchard, author of the book’s Foreword, co-wrote with Spencer Johnson the bestselling business productivity book The One Minute Manager. At his own company, Blanchard handed out early copies of Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese? during a stressful time and found that his staff loved the book for its ability to help them adapt to, and build on, challenges the company faced.

Sniff is a mouse who lives in a Maze, along with another mouse and two very small humans. As Sniff’s name suggests, this mouse constantly tests the maze for odors that hint at the presence of cheese. If the cheese in one corner of the Maze disappears, Sniff immediately begins searching for more. By contrast with the humans, Sniff and the other mouse, Scurry, “do better when they are faced with change because they keep things simple” (17). Sniff stands in for the mind’s ability to focus on sniffing out new opportunities, especially when old resources dry up, and developing them into new resources.

Along with Sniff, Scurry is one of two mice who live in the Maze. Like Sniff, Scurry’s main occupation is searching for cheese and, when it’s found, enjoying it. Scurry and Sniff both have “simple brains and good instincts” (26). Unlike the two humans who also live in the Maze, Scurry doesn’t waste time bemoaning the loss of cheese but simply hurries after a new source. In that sense, Scurry represents the mind’s ability to move quickly when the need arises to find replacement resources.

Hem is one of the two Littlepeople who live in the Maze along with the mice Sniff and Scurry. At first, Hem and Haw find plenty of Cheese “with a capital C—which they believed would make them feel happy and successful” (26). When the Cheese disappears, Hem believes someone has moved it, and he becomes angry and despondent. Haw grouses, too, but finally decides to go search for more Cheese. Hem, however, resentful that the Cheese has disappeared, refuses to leave their corner of the Maze. Hem represents the human tendency to complain, fuss, and blame others when problems arise instead of simply solving them.

Like Hem, Haw is a Littlepeople who lives in the Maze along with the mice Sniff and Scurry. Also like Hem, and unlike the mice, Haw doesn’t keep things simple and instead makes the search for human Cheese complicated. Haw differs from Hem, though, in that Haw finally realizes that more Cheese awaits a more thorough search of the Maze. Haw symbolizes the human ability to rise above frustration and feelings of helplessness, to solve problems, and to make the changes in life beneficial.

The human characters in the story are called “Littlepeople” because they’re very small, presumably so they can fit within the walls of the story’s allegorical Maze. Though both Hem and Haw are Littlepeople, their problems are just as big and worrisome as those faced by the ordinary-sized people who read the story.

Michael is one of the classmates at the school reunion. He tells them the story of “Who Moved My Cheese?” He also gives a brief anecdote about how his company struggled during a crisis until the staff heard the Cheese story and their attitude changed for the better. With his friendly rendition of the story and his wish that the classmates pass it along, Michael stands in for the author himself.