Constantly ask 'why' and 'why not?'

Change is the most common, if not most abused theme of individual and collective pronouncements and actions at the onset of the New Year — change our ways, our circumstances, our lifestyles or conduct of business. There are a good number of reading materials, from blogs to books, which offer some help. One of the popular materials referred to by people around the world is Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese (WMMC), a business allegory that describes how four characters react to change, knowing that change inevitably happens and that we have to embrace it. Change is beyond our control, and we need to muster the ability to respond to it, move with it and adapt. Book lovers and business people have used WMMC in their search for answers about missing cheeses of whatever variety. 

Now here comes I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Else’s Maze (IMYC), a tiny tome that attempts to shed light on some issues on how we should view change. In an entertaining, albeit satirical fashion, Harvard professor Deepak Malhotra’s work challenges the notion that change is simply something we must look forward to and accept.

Malhotra’s proposition is that we should go beyond said concept, propelling the principle that success is dependent on our skill to question or challenge the changes happening in our life and workplace, and if warranted, in effecting the change we want. Malhotra opines that the message of WMMC may be menacing or crippling, since it promotes the belief that change is unavoidably beyond our control, that we shouldn’t waste our time wondering why things are the way they are, and that we should just put our heads down and keep running around the maze chasing the cheese.

But like WMMC, IMYC is a tale of distinctive and daring mice — Max, Zed and Big — who live in a maze. As we turn voyeur and keep an eye on how their lives play out and crisscross, we discover that instead of just the ability to react to change and chase the cheese, each of us has the potential to escape the maze or even reconfigure the maze to our liking. It suggests that we can create the new conditions and actualities we want after putting behind us the deep-rooted impression that we are nothing more than mice in someone else’s maze. As Zed tells Max, “The problem is not that the mouse is in the maze, but that the maze is in the mouse.”

Here are some precious lessons from Malhotra, the mouse:

• Never underestimate our ability to control our own destiny. Our knack for pushing boundaries, reshaping our environment, and playing by a different set of norms will define our success in most areas — innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, leadership, personal growth and personal development. As Malhotra posits, “In the face of established practices, traditional ideas, scarce resources, and the powerful demands or expectations of others, we often underestimate our ability to control our own destiny and overcome the constraints we face — or think we face.”

• Do more than blindly accept our fate. Seek to understand why the change was forced on us, how we might exert greater control over our lives or business in the future — whether the goals we are chasing are the correct ones — and what it would take to escape the kinds of mazes other people design for us. We must be inspired to ask the important questions, accepting that life is all about taking control of the road ahead.

• Work to meet our own expectations, not the expectations of others. What often holds us back from achieving greater success are limitations that we impose upon ourselves — internalized environmental pressures, social norms, and the expectations of other people. The world tells us how things have to be, and we don’t confront and push back enough.

• Aim to achieve excellence and leave the outcomes to a higher being. Side by side with our intelligence quotient, our emotional quotient can point us in the right direction. Hence it is important and necessary that we do not simply agree with what is imposed on us but to register our disagreements in a rational fashion. However, this should be done with the right intention and not merely to criticize, as reckless criticism can lead us to the wrong path. And as we aim to do our best, leave the outcomes to our belief and trust in our God.

• Cut “status quo-ism.” Malhotra says this is a more positive and optimistic approach. Change is the only constant and hence it is dynamic. A change today does not mean going on a full stop. On the contrary, with various future developments in the environmental space, it is a must to utilize our faculties to research, innovate and find better solutions. At times, however, we cannot fight with what has taken place as this may be futile and frustrating. Nevertheless we must never become like dumb, driven cattle that simply accept what has been thrust upon us. We must vigilantly analyze the pros and cons of each and every situation, and from our analysis, plan for improvements.

I Moved Your Cheese promises the transformational nuances that humans work hard for. “Such human potential is best portrayed by Captain Kirk when he changed the ‘change’ by outsmarting a no-win scenario, or a solution that involves redefining the problem. Very much like Steve Jobs with his unsettling instinct for being light years ahead of his peers by applying such scenarios in Apple’s culture,” Malhotra relates.

We have encountered a vast number of smart and hardworking managers and executives with good intentions — and yet they continue to struggle with problems involving structure, organizational culture, recruitment, talent development, job focus, and work-life balance, among others. “The reason is that the intellect, effort and intent are necessary — but not sufficient — to solve some of the more vexing problems,” Malhotra explains. We also need to step back and challenge our assumptions, to see the old in new ways, to try not only harder but also differently, and above all, to create an environment where people are constantly asking “why?” and “why not?”

If we feel trapped in our current circumstances, and are struggling to find meaning or fulfillment in what we are doing, we may seek inspiration from IMYC as we try to discover what else we can or should do with the rest of our lives.

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