Saturday 2 July 2016

Again its our mindset!

Who Moved My Success Cheese?

There are many flavors of Agile. Based on need to explore and select may take some time by the team(s)/organisation(s) but the top most challenge being faced is having an Agile mindset. Shift towards agility not necessarily starts when someone knows about any of the Agile flavor, it sometimes starts when even one does not know about it. Years back I read one great book (I still enjoy this book) which is quite significant when we talk about Agility- Who Moved My Cheese? Originally published: September 7, 1998 AuthorSpencer Johnson
Here I have tried to share a bit of the story.The elements in bold are the elements of agility which I picked-up from the story.
Who Moved My Cheese? is a story of four characters: two mice, "Sniff" and "Scurry," and two little people, miniature humans, "Hem" and "Haw." They live in a maze and look for cheese.
“Cheese” – a metaphor for what we want to have in life.Each of us has our own idea of what Cheese is, and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy.
Need
Initially without cheese, each group, the mice and humans, paired off and travelled the lengthy corridors searching for cheese. One day both groups happen upon a cheese-filled corridor at "Cheese Station C." Content with their find, the humans establish routines around their daily intake of cheese.
Following a Plan
Every morning, the mice & the little people headed over to Cheese Station C where they found their own kind of cheese. It was a large store of Cheese that Hem & Haw eventually moved their homes to be closer to it & built a social life around it.
Changes happen and Plans do Fail
One morning, Sniff & Scurry arrived at Cheese Station C & discovered there was no cheese.
They weren’t surprised. Since they had noticed the supply of cheese had been getting smaller every day, they were prepared for the inevitable & knew instinctively what to do. They were quickly off in search of New Cheese.
Later that same day, Hem & Haw arrived. “What! No Cheese? Who moved my Cheese? It’s not fair!”, Hem yelled. They went home that night hungry & discouraged.
Responding to changes
The next day Hem & Haw left their homes, & returned to Cheese Station C. But situation hadn’t changed. Haw asked, “Where are Sniff & Scurry? Do you think they know something we don’t?” Hem scoffed, “What would they know? They’re just simple mice. They just respond to what happens. We’re little people. We’re smarter.”
Haw suggested, “Maybe we should stop analysing the situation so much and just get going & find some New Cheese.Haw decided to leave Cheese Station C while Hem was more comfortable staying in the cheese-less Station C.
Meanwhile, Sniff & Scurry went farther into the maze until they found Cheese Station N. They found what they had been looking for: a great supply of New Cheese. It was the biggest store of cheese the mice had ever seen.
Adapt changes and Continuous Improvement
Haw on the other hand become more anxious & wondered if he really wanted to go out into the Maze.
Haw now realised that the change probably would not have taken him by surprise if he had been watching what was happening all along and if he had anticipated change.
Haw wondered if Hem had moved on, or if he was still paralysed by his own fears. Then, Haw remembered the times when he had felt his best in the Maze. It was when he was moving along.
As Haw started running down the dark corridor, he began to smile. Haw didn’t realise it yet, but he was discovering what nourished his soul. He was letting go & trusting what lay ahead for him, even though he did not know exactly what it was.
To his surprise, Haw started to enjoy himself more & more.
To make things even better, Haw started to paint a picture in his mind again. He saw himself in great realistic detail, sitting in the middle of a pile of all his favourite cheeses-from Cheddar to Brie! He saw himself eating the many cheeses he liked, & he enjoyed what he saw.
The more clearly he saw the image of himself enjoying New Cheese, the more real & believable it became.
Haw wondered why he had always thought that a change would lead to something worse. Now he realised that change could lead to something better.
Being Agile
Then he raced through the Maze with greater strength & agility. Until he found bits of New Cheese. He entered the Cheese Station but it was empty. Someone had already been there.
Haw made his way back to Cheese Station C to offer Hem bits of New Cheese but was turned down. Hem wanted his own Cheese back. Haw just shook his head in disappointment but this does not stop him from finding New Cheese.
Haw realised again, that what you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.
He realises it was natural for change to continually occur, whether you expect it or not. Change could surprise you only if you didn’t expect it & weren’t looking for it.
Haw now realised that his new beliefs were encouraging him to behave in a new way. He was behaving differently from the way he had when he had kept returning to the same cheese-less station.
Haw just hoped he was heading in the right direction.
He continued on through the Maze with greater strength & speed. He proceeded along a corridor that was new to him, rounded a corner, & found New Cheese at Cheese Station N where he saw the greatest supply of Cheese he had ever seen.
Retrospection
Haw wrote down a summary of what he had learned on the largest wall of Cheese Station N & smiled as he looked at what he had learned.
To dive-into this maze, go ahead and get a copy of this book. :-)
And yes, if you analyse the story and want to add some more elements, please do. 

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