Ma. Nerissa Navarro-Piamonte has worked in a government human rights office for the last 19 years. "I have weathered the storms and enjoyed the summers and springs in this organization." She took up journalism at UST and finished her master’s in public management at the Development Academy of the Philippines.
Our organization will have a big bang soon. It will be like the Mayon Volcano eruption. All the signs are showing, but when it’s actually going to erupt, only the Supreme Deity, in our case the Supreme Court, knows. Because it is the SC that will finally determine the fate of our organization insofar as our fiscal autonomy is concerned.
The upheaval will affect all of us in the organization in varying degrees. Most of the top management will suffer cuts in their financial perks and all of the employees will no longer receive fringe benefits. In this time of economic crisis, with no salary increase since the salary standardization law, any financial cutback will greatly impact on our daily lives.
How are the people reacting to the upcoming change? How am I reacting and how should I manage this major change?
A very slim book, Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson, is helping me process my thoughts, feelings, and all the legal and other underpinnings of our "limited fiscal autonomy," if there is such a thing, to chart my own future action.
I first read the story – or business fable – more than four years ago when I got a typewritten copy as part of our strategic planning workshop kit. It is about four characters who live in a maze: two mice called Sniff and Scurry, and two little people called Hem and Haw. They have found their happiness in Cheese Station C, where every day, they go to have their fill of different kinds of delicious cheese. Until one day, the cheese in Cheese Station C is gone. Sniff and Scurry, with their simple brains, do not analyze why there is no longer cheese, and so they go off again through the maze to look for cheese. Hem and Haw, on the other hand, have complex brains so they discus and analyze the situation, and try to solve the problem. Hem and Haw, however, have different attitudes and different ways of responding to the situation.
Hem is adamant. He cries about the injustice of his cheese being taken away, refuses to accept that all the cheese is gone, and does not want to leave Station C because it has become his comfort zone. In short, he just hems himself in. Haw at first behaves like Hem, but when he realizes the folly of not accepting the truth, he decides to look for cheese in other stations.
It is not easy for Haw to find his cheese. Many times he is discouraged and overcome with fear as he walks through the dark alleys of the maze. Every time he goes through a life-learning experience, he summarizes it and writes it on the wall, which is actually meant for Hem in case he wants to follow Haw. In the end, Haw finds Cheese Station N, where Sniff and Scurry have been enjoying the different kinds of rich and flavorful cheeses.
The slim book actually has only three parts: the first part narrates the reunion of high school friends. They update each other on the latest developments in their lives and how they are coping or not coping with change. One of them reveals that because of a short story that he heard and later shared with all his employees, he was able to manage the crisis that hit his company and succeeded in making it good again. In the second part of the book, he narrates the story of Sniff and Scurry and Hem and Haw. The third part is a discussion on how each of the reunion participants could relate to the story and the lessons they might draw. This part is very important as it helps one to crystallize the parable. Cheese here represents anything that makes one happy: it could be a career, relationship, family, business, work, etc. This is the first lesson that Haw posted on the wall: Having cheese makes you happy.
The vanishing cheese, of course, refers to change. And change was the inevitable fact that Hem refused to accept.
In our own organization there have been many Sniffs and Scurries – lawyers who could not find the cheese in human rights work for two reasons: low pay and the kind of work involved. After six months or so, they immediately move on to other offices.
Of course, there are many Hems who refuse to accept change. They come in many forms. There are those who have not adapted to the required changes in our work systems and processes and have become inefficient and ineffective. There are those who continue to defy new policies, or even disregard rules and regulations. There are those who cannot accept their new bosses or the changes that their supervisors have initiated. And in relation to the upcoming organizational change, there are those who refuse to admit that even if the organization has fiscal autonomy, it must go through the regular process of reorganization that requires the approval of oversight agencies.
Fortunately, there are not a few Haws in the office. I have resolved to be a Haw rather than a Hem. I have been trying to apply the lessons Haw learned in my career and work, as well as in other aspects of my life, my family and friends.
Haw wrote: "They keep moving the cheese." I understand that change always happens. (That has been said a million times but we always tend to forget!)
"Get ready for the Cheese to move." So now I should anticipate changes in my life and in others.
I had a good laugh when he wrote: "Smell the cheese often so you know when it’s getting old" or moldy. It means one should regularly monitor, follow up, and be alert for changes.
"The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese." I should adapt to change as soon as possible.
"Move with the cheese." It means I should also change!
Finally, Haw encourages: "Savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of new cheese." Therefore, I’ll enjoy change. And be ready to change quickly and enjoy the experience again and again.
I have been discussing the book with my colleagues and staff, and I get new insights every time. I have since resolved that I will not wait for anyone to move my cheese – I will move with my cheese.
But Karen, the youngest director whom we call Little Sister, offered the best insight when she said: "I will make my own cheese!"