Who Moved My Cheese
Dr. Spencer Johnson
The story
Once, long ago in a land far away, there lived four little characters who ran through a maze looking for cheese to nourish them and make them happy.
Two were mice named ―Sniff‖ and ―Scurry‖ and two were littlepeople –beings who were as small as mice but who looked and acted a lot like people today. Their names were ―Hem‖ and ―Haw‖.
Due to their small size, it would be easy not to notice what the four of them were doing. But if you looked closely enough, you could discover the most amazing things! Every day the mice and the littlepeople spent time in the maze looking for their own special cheese.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, possessing only simple rodent brains, but good instincts, searched for the hard nibbling cheese they liked, as mice often do.
The two littlepeople, Hem and Haw, used their brains, filled with many beliefs, to search for a very differe
nt kind of Cheese – with a capital C – which they believed would make them feel happy and successful.
As different as the mice and littlepeople were, they shared something in common: every morning, they each put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their little homes, and raced out into the maze looking for their favorite cheese.
The maze was a labyrinth of corridors and chambers, some containing delicious cheese. But there were also dark corners and blind alleys leading nowhere. It was an easy place for anyone to get lost.
However, for those who found their way, the maze held secrets that let them enjoy a better life.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, used the simple, but inefficient, trial-and-error method of finding cheese. They ran down one corridor and if it proved empty, they turned and ran down anthor.
Sniff would smell out the general direction of the cheese, using his great nose, and Scurry would race ahead. They got lost, as you might expect, went off in the wrong direction and often bumped into walls.
However, the two littlepeople, Hem and Haw, used a different method that relied on their ability to think and learn from their past experiences, although, they would sometimes get confused by their beliefs a
nd emotions.
Eventually in their own way, they all discovered what they were looking for – they each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C.
Every morning after that, the mice and the littlepeople dressed in their running gear and headed over to Cheese Station C. It wasn’t long before they each established their own routine.
Sniff and Scurry continued to wake early every day and race through the maze,
always following the same route.
When they arrived at their destination, the mice took off their running shoes, tied them together and hung them around their necks – so they could get to them quickly whenever they needed them again. Then they enjoyed the cheese.
In the beginning Hem and Haw also raced toward Cheese Station C every morning to enjoy the tasty new morsels that awaited them.
But after a while, a different routine set in for the littlepeople.
Hem and Haw awoke each day a little later, dressed a little slower, and walked to Cheese Station C. After all, they knew where the Cheese was now and hot to get there.
They had no idea where the Cheese came from, or who put it there. They just assumed it would be there.
As soon as Hem and Haw arrived at Cheese Station C each morning, they settled in and made themselves at home. They hung up their jogging suits, put away their running shoes and put on their slippers. They were becoming very comfortable now that they had found the Cheese.
―This is great,‖ Hem said. ―There’s enough Cheese here to last us forever.‖ The littlepeople felt happy and successful, and thought they were now secure.
It wasn’t long before Hem and Haw regarded the Cheese they found at Cheese Station C as their cheese. It was such a large store of Cheese that they eventually moved their homes to be closer to it, and built a social life around it.
To make themselves feel more at home, Hem and Haw decorated the walls with sayings and even drew pictures of Cheese around them which made them smile. One read:
―Having Cheese Makes You Happy.‖
Sometimes Hem and Haw would take their friends by to see their pile of Cheese at Cheese Station C, and point to it with pride, saying, ―Pretty nice Cheese, huh?‖ Sometimes they sha red it with their friends and sometimes they didn’t.
―We deserve this Cheese,‖ Hem said. ―We certainly had to work long and hard enough to find it.‖ He picked up a nice fresh piece and ate it.
Afterwards, Hem fell asleep, as he often did.
Every night the littlepeople would waddle home, full of Cheese, and every morning they would confidently return for more.
This went on for quite some time.
After a while Hem’s and Haw’s confidence grew into arrogance. Soon they became so comfortable they didn’t even notice what was happening.
As time went on, Sniff and Scurry continued their routine. They arrived early each morning and sniffed
and scratched and scurried around Cheese Station C, inspecting the area to see if there had been any changes from the day before. Then they would sit down to nibble on the cheese.
One morning they arrived at Cheese Station C and discovered there was no cheese. They weren’t surprised. Since Sniff and Scurry had noticed the supply of cheese had been getting smaller every day, they were prepared for the inevitable and knew instinctively what to do.
They looked at each other, removed the running shoes they had tied together and hung conveniently around their necks, put them on their feet and laced them up.
The mice did not overanalyze things. And they were not burdened with many complex beliefs.
To the mice, the problem and the answer were both simple. The situation at Cheese Station C had changed. So, Sniff and Scurry decided to change.
They both looked out into the maze. Then Sniff lifted his nose, sniffed, and nodded to Scurry, who took off running through the maze, while Sniff followed as fast as he could.
They were quickly off in search of New Cheese. Later that same day, Hem and Haw arrived at Cheese Station C. They had not been paying attention to the small changes that had been taking place each d
ay, so they took it for granted their Cheese would be there.
They were unprepared for what they found.
―What! No Cheese?‖ Hem yelled. He continued yelling, ―No Cheese? No Cheese?‖ as though if he shouted loud enough someone would put it back.
―Who moved my Cheese?‖ he hollered.
Finally, he put his hands on his hips, his face turned red, and he screamed at the top of his voice, ―It’s not fair!‖
Haw just shook his head in disbelief. He, too, had counted on finding Cheese at Cheese Station C. He stood there for a long time, frozen with shock. He was just not ready for this.( )
Hem was yelling something, but Haw didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to deal with what was facing him, so he just tuned everything out.
The littlepeople’s behavior was not very attractive or productive but it was understandable.
Finding Cheese wasn’t easy, and it meant a great deal more to the littlepeople than just having enough of it to eat every day.
Finding Cheese was the littlepeopels’ way of getting what they thought they needed to be happy. They had their own ideas of what Cheese meant to them, depending on their taste.
For some, finding Cheese was having material things. For others it was enjoying good health, or developing a spiritual sense of well-being.
For Haw, Cheese just meant feeling safe, having a loving family someday and living in a cozy cottage on Cheddar Lane.
To Hem, Cheese was becoming A Big Cheese in charge of others and owning a big house atop Camembert Hill.
Because Cheese was important to them, the two littlepeople spent a long time trying to decide what to do. All they could think of was to keep looking around Cheeseless Station C to see if the Cheese was really gone.
While Sniff and Scurry had quickly moved on, Hem and Haw continued to hem and haw.
They ranted and raved at the injustice of it all. Haw started to get depressed. What would happen if the Cheese wasn’t there tomorrow? He had made future plans based
on this Cheese.
The littlepeople couldn’t believe it. How could this have happened? No one had warned them. It wasn’t right. It was not the way things were supposed to be.
Hem and Haw went home that night hungry and discouraged. But before they left, Haw wrote on the wall:
The More Important Your Cheeses Is To You The More You Want To Hold On To
It.
The next day Hem and Haw left their homes, and returned to Cheese Station C again, where they still expected, somehow, to find their Cheese.
The situation hadn’t changed, the Cheese was no longer there. The littlepeople didn’t know what to do. Hem and Haw just stood there, immobilized like two statues. Haw shut his eyes as tight as he could an
d put his hands over his ears. He just wanted to block everything out. He didn’t want to know the Cheese supply had gradually been getting smaller. He believed it had been moved all of a sudden.
Hem analyzed the situation over and over and eventually his complicated brain with its huge belief system took hold. ―Why did they do this to me?‖ he demanded.
―What’s really going on here?‖
Finally, Haw opened his eyes, looked around and said, ―By the way, where are Sniff and Scurry? Do you think they know something we don’t?‖
Hem scoffed, ―What would they know?‖
Hem continued, ―They’re just simple mice. They just repond to what happens. We’re littlepeople. We’re special. We should be able to figure this out. And, besides, we deserve better.‖
―This should not happen to us, or if it does, we should at least get some benefits.‖
―Why should we get benefits?‖ Haw asked.
―Because we’re entitled,‖ Hem claimed.
―Entitled to what?‖ Haw wanted to know.
―We’re entitled to our Cheese.‖
―Why?‖ Haw asked.
―Because, we didn’t cause this problem,‖ Hem said. ―Somebody else did this and we should get something out of it.‖
Haw suggested, ―Maybe we should stop analyzing the situation so much and just get going and find some New Cheese.‖
―Oh on,‖ Hem argued.―I’m going to get to the bottom of this.‖
While Hem and Haw were still trying to decide what to do, Sniff and Scurry were already well on their way. They went farther into the maze, up and down corridors, looking for cheese in every Cheese Station they could find.
They didn’t think of anything else but finding New Cheese.
They didn’t find any for sometime until they finally went into an area of the maze where they had never been before: Cheese Station N.
They squealed with delight. They found what they had been looking for: a great supply of New Cheese.
They could hardly believe their eyes. It was the biggest store of cheese the mice had ever seen. In the meantime, Hem and Haw were still back in Cheese Station C
evaluating their situation. They were now suffering from the effects of having no Cheese. They were becoming frustrated any angry and were blaming each other for the situation they were in.
Now and then Haw thought about his mice buddies, Sniff and Scurry, and wondered if they had found any cheese yet. He believed they might be having a hard time, as running through the maze usually involved some uncertainly. But he also knew that it was likely to only last for a while.
Sometimes, Haw would imagine Sniff and Scurry finding New Cheese and enjoying it. He thought about how good it would be for him to be out on an adventure in the maze, and to find fresh New Cheese. He could almost taste it.
The more clearly Haw saw the image of himself finding and enjoying the New Cheese, the more the saw himself leaving Cheese Station C.
―Let’s go!‖ he exclaimed, all of a sudden.
―No,‖ Hem quickly responded. ―I like it here. It’s comfortable. It’s what I know. Besides it’s dangerous out there.‖
―No it isn’t,‖ Haw argued. ―We’ve run through many parts of the maze before, and we can do it again.‖
―I’m getting too old for that,‖ Hem said. ―And I’m afraid I’m not interested in getting lost and making a fool of myself. Are you?‖
With that, Haw’s fear of fa iling returned and his hope of finding New Cheese faded.
So every day, the littlepeople continued to do what they had done before. They went to Cheese Station C, found no Cheese, and returned home, carrying their worries and frustrations with them.
They tried to deny what was happening, but found it harder to get to sleep, had less energy the next day, and were becoming irritable.
Their homes were not the nurturing places they once were. The littlepeople had difficulty sleeping and were having nightmares about not finding any cheese.
But Hem and Haw still returned to Cheese Station C and waited there every day. Hem said, ―You know, if we just work harder we’ll find that nothing has really changed that much. The Cheese is probably nearby. Maybe they just hid it behind the wall.‖
The next day, Hem and Haw returned with tools. Hem held the chisel while Haw banged on the hammer until they made a hole in the wall of Cheese Station C. they peered inside but found no Cheese.
They were disappointed but believed they could solve the problem. So they started earlier, stayed longer, and worked harder. But after a while, all they had was a large hole in the wall.
Haw was beginning to realize the difference between activity and productivity.
―Maybe,‖ Hem said, ―we should just sit here and see what happens. Sooner or later they have to put the Cheese back.‖
Haw wanted to believe that. So each day he went home to rest and returned reluctantly with Hem to C
heese Station C. But Cheese never reappeared.
By now the littlepeople were growing weak from hunger and stress. Haw was

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