Some People Just Don't Like Change

Some people don’t like change. They would like to keep things just the way they are right now, thank you very much. Recently, some employers have used a book called, “Who Moved My Cheese” to help employees adapt to change. I got a chance to look at the book, and while I didn’t like it, I did start to think about change and how it became pivotal to my existence.
First off, although there are some people in the world that fear any change at all, most of us would have little trouble adapting to a shiny new car, a big promotion at work, or winning the lottery. It is the un-asked-for change that seems to diminish our work experience or lifestyle that we resist. The transfer from a position you love to a position you have little interest in, a move from a large house to an apartment, getting demoted or fired from your job. These are the kinds of changes that the author hopes that WMMC (“Who Moved My Cheese”) will help us with. WMMC is a short, cartoon-like book that is written in a style that hopes to pull in non-readers. It is one of those “There are four types of people in the world” kind of books that reduces everything down to a parable about mice. It may have done better as a seminar lecture than as a book.
I grew up as the son of an Air Force officer and that required getting used to rapid change early in life. Up until 3rd grade, I had never spent more than 6 months in one town or school. When I was 11 years old, my family moved to Central Florida and I made myself believe that I would never move again. Compared to my wife, who grew up and still lives in the same town, I have no memories before 3rd grade. She can remember her Kindergarten teacher and names of kids in her class. I couldn’t even tell you what town I lived in. I remember at 16 years old, thinking that I didn’t have anybody outside my family that I had known more than a few years.
Years later, at a job interview, a wise potential employer said to me; “You’ve spent your whole life under an umbrella, first with your family in the military where they will always take care of you and then working for the local government where they will never fire you. You need to take a chance and get out from under the umbrella.” He was a wise man, but there was something that he didn’t know. The military life offers rapid change and stability at the same time, but it also offers something else that a small business rarely offers: the chance to give your life for your country. What he didn’t know was that my life from 11 to 18 was spent knowing that my father was in a Vietnamese prison camp and that I could do nothing about it..