Who Moved My Cheese? Worth reading?

Are you one of the twenty-one million people who own this little book?

I’ve had it on my shelves for years, occasionally opening it and never getting far beyond the beginning of the story. Now I have just managed it from cover to cover – it took about an hour – and, really, it must be among the most objectionable things I’ve ever read.

From the outset it’s patronising, treating the reader as a complete idiot.

Every turn in the story is signalled ahead and re-explained afterwards with a sledgehammer, just in case we missed the point. Aesop does not do this.

It’s written in supposed “allegorical” language, which means in this case at around the reading level of a seven year-old.

It assumes that all change is good.

Change, it seems, comes exclusively from outside forces. There’s not a hint that we might ourselves initiate it.

It is fundamentally about suppressing dissent and ensuring compliance.

It trails clouds of training and merchandise spin-offs.

It has absolutely no ability to use words stylishly and zero sense of humour.

The question is: what is it that has driven sales relentlessly over the past fourteen years? Is it the catchy title (a question never actually addressed in the book)?

Or is it the desperate need of insecure leaders to regain control?

The Secrets of Followership

A very experienced American colleague, Marvin Smith, suggested we talk about “followership”. “What?” we chorused. “What’s all that about, Marvin?”

“Well everyone talks about leadership,” he responded, “and the bookstores are stacked high with a continuous stream of new books on that subject. But when they teach leadership, they hardly ever touch on followership.

“In fact, outside of religion, no one ever seems to talk about followership. There are hardly any books or training courses. But, without followers, there are no leaders. It’s as simple as that.

“So what makes a good follower?” he asked us.

We spent a memorable hour springboarding thoughts and ideas and developing some ideal characteristics and behaviours. We realised quickly that we all need to be leaders and all followers in different situations. I personally committed to learning and growing as a follower and as a leader. One thing I would say is that good followership is clearly not about uncritical servitude.

What for you makes an outstanding follower?