Who Moved My Cheese?

I got a call the other day from one of my best friends, (who will remain nameless simply because I don't want to embarrass her) to tell me that she is being let go from her job. I seem to surround myself with strong women with similar life experiences, I guess to some degree we all do this when choosing our circle of friends. She had her first child at 17, worked her way through college and after a few years off, she decided to go to law school. We graduated together and since that time, she has gone through a whole string of difficult situations, including divorce, and, deciding ultimately that she really didn't want to practice law which resulted in a few job transitions. She found a job she was actually enjoying and due to changes in market conditions, now she is beginning the career search once again. She is easy to get along with, flexible in her thinking and very hard working. I hate to see her going through this again.

Both Bernie's company and mine are going through their own restructuring processes as large corporations often do. All of this got me thinking about the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson. It came out in the late 90s and was required reading for one of my MBA classes. I read it about the same time that Enron went bankrupt (for those of you that don't know, in what seems like a former life now, prior to law school, I worked for a facilties management company in Hartford that was purchased by Enron about 18 months prior to the big collapse). If I remember correctly, the purpose of the book is basically to get readers to see change in a positive light instead of being threatened by it. It spawned other books such as "Who Moved My Cheese for Kids," and "Nobody Moved Your Cheese."

In the current economy, there is a push to do more with less. More work with less employees, rising prices outpacing rising wages. We are told to expect bonuses to be 80% of last year and that raises might be nonexistant even if we are working longer hours than ever before. We are being stretched thin as companies search for maximum efficiency. In some ways this philosophy helped spawn the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011.

While this trend "feels" different to a lot of people, the idea of doing the same work for less reward isn't really new to us. In fact, in some ways it's part of the growth process. I realized this yesterday as we continue the potty training struggle with our very stubborn 3 year old. He is motivated by rewards, as most of us are - smiles, praise, and payment. Jack's currency: candy, more specifically Skittles and Hershey Bars. He would get 1 square of chocolate for trying and 3 for a success, or a few skittles for trying, or as he put it "a whole bunch of crittles" when he would go. This worked great when his successes were few and far between. Now that he's mastered #1 and he's working on #2, we had to change the reward system and he's clearly disappointed. You can see the wheels turning in his head. Last week #1 was worth 3 squares and now it's only worth one. It's exactly the same amount of work and effort, but for a fraction of the reward. Nick summed it up perfectly when he said, "I peed on the potty all day, where are my skittles?" I almost expect this to spawn some sort of "Occupy the Bathroom" movement at my house. We had to change to reward system, and as he progresses, we'll need to change it again to avoid cavities and obesity. It is for his own good. We may even change the currency to stickers, that would really throw him for a loop. It is illustrative though of what happens when we master a skill. We work hard, we accomplish it and then it just becomes an expectation instead of something for which we are rewarded. A year or two from now, Jack won't be rewarded for using the potty but likely scolded if he has accidents, for not taking time out to go to the bathroom, or not trying to go before we leave the house. As there is room to grow through the natural developmental stages if childhood, there is room to grow in adulthood as well. If we become complacent in our careers or even our relationships, should we still be rewarded? I am not by any means suggesting that the system is fair, but just that maybe it isn't such a bad thing for us individually and personally to continually improve, adapt, raise the bar, and just generally strive to be more fully ourselves.

My friend has a surprisingly positive attitude about her current situation and all she's been through. This is an opportunity for her to further stretch herself, to try something new, maybe even fulfill a dream or two. If you are hiring or know someone who is, I will send you her CV. I promise you won't be disappointed.

For the rest of us, maybe our cheese has moved or maybe it isn't even cheese anymore. Maybe we just need to be creative and willing to step outside of our comfort zones and look for other ways of figuring out what it is we want and how to get it. As for me, I am starving! I am going to make cheese fondue and dip everything I can find in it, bread, fruit, vegetables, etc. Doesn't everything taste better when it's smothered in cheese? Happy Friday :-)