Who Moved My Cheese? Summary and Key Points
Who Moved My Cheese? is a short fable about how people respond to change. Four characters live in a maze and depend on a supply of cheese. When it vanishes, two of them adapt quickly and two struggle, and one eventually learns to move on.
Johnson says the cheese stands for whatever you want in life, such as a job, a relationship or money.
| Character | Represents |
|---|---|
| Sniff (mouse) | Sensing change early |
| Scurry (mouse) | Acting on change quickly |
| Hem (littleperson) | Denial and fear of change |
| Haw (littleperson) | Slowly learning to adapt |
What happens in the book?
Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw each find a large store of cheese at Cheese Station C and settle into a routine. The mice keep watching how much is left. The littlepeople grow comfortable and stop noticing that the supply is shrinking.
One day the cheese is gone. The mice head straight into the maze to look for more. Hem and Haw are shocked and angry, and Hem keeps asking who moved the cheese. They wait for it to come back.
↑ Back to the topHow does Haw change?
After more days of hunger, Haw decides to search. He leaves a message on the wall for Hem and goes into the maze, afraid but moving. Along the way he writes short lessons on the maze walls, for himself and for Hem, such as that fear is worse than the thing feared and that imagining success helps you act.
At Cheese Station N he finds more cheese than before, including kinds he does not recognize. The mice are already there.
↑ Back to the topHow does it end?
Haw now checks the station often and keeps exploring so he is not caught off guard again. He writes his main lessons on the largest wall: change happens, be ready for it and be willing to move with it. He hears someone coming and hopes it is Hem, but the book does not say whether Hem ever changes.
↑ Back to the topWhat is the moral?
The book's message is that change is constant, so anticipate it, adapt quickly and do not cling to what is gone. The two mice stand for simple, quick action, and the two littlepeople show how complicated feelings can get in the way.
Some critics argue the fable can sound like advice to accept whatever happens, including changes imposed by an employer, without asking who is making the decisions. Supporters reply that it is a tool for personal resilience, not a defense of management.
↑ Back to the topMore about Who Moved My Cheese?
This guide covers a short business fable, including how it ends.