# How relevant is "Who Moved My Cheese" these days?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-relevant-is-who-moved-my-cheese-these-days/576319>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 28, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-relevant-is-who-moved-my-cheese-these-days/576319 "2011-03-28T21:53:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-relevant-is-who-moved-my-cheese-these-days/576319/41 "2011-03-30T03:06:15Z")

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> [@fluiddruid](#):
>
> I don’t think that the book is necessarily irrelevant, but mass-issuing the book to people working in an organization that is undergoing change with the expectation that this will help matters was never particularly relevant or smart. Yet, people did it. Today, I suspect most people are onto it and wouldn’t accept it.
> 
> The problem with “Who Moved My Cheese” is that, while it has a nugget of truth to it – there are those people who won’t change, or resist change for the sake of resisting – this is really a symptom of a greater issue. For the most part, people are reasonable. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part, people can be made to understand about organizational changes in a frank, direct, and honest manner. Giving them a book about fearing change instead is pretty patronizing.

Interestingly, I do remember that book being used recently in a high school setting, the surprising relevance:

It was to teach students in a now constantly changing jobs environment that they should be ready to seek new opportunities constantly and to not depend or be static in one job when the truth is that it can change any minute.

I would indeed see it as very awkward to use in a corporation when the intention of management is to calm workers after or during a shake up.

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-relevant-is-who-moved-my-cheese-these-days/576319/42 "2011-03-30T04:52:48Z")

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[QUOTE=Noel Prosequi]

I gather that it is the economics of the management consulting life that drove all this. Management types rely on the principle that management is sufficiently a science that no content knowledge of the task being managed is necessary. That immediately creates resentment from those who have been doing a job for decades.

Next, managers tend to move quite quickly from workplace to workplace, even internal managers.

A consequence of this is that they need to do stuff to justify their existence and “brand” themselves as new ideas people. So they adopt one of a small number of standard strategies. Centralise everything that was decentralised. Decentralise everything that was centralised. Rearrange pay structures so that they look encouraging but result in less actual pay. Move on (before the villagers warm up the torches and pitchforks) so they have a shiny new achievement to put on their CV. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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It’s interesting that most of my coleagues - MBA management consultant types - don’t stay at any one company very long. Every 9-24 months it seems like they move to a new firm.

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