Someone Moved My Cheese …And I’m Glad They Did!

Everyone should read the insightful book Who Moved My Cheese? because it helps people anticipate and adapt to change rather than fall victim to it. Without retelling the entire argument, suffice it to say that the premise is to instinctively anticipate change and find new opportunities before old ones dry up.

One of the biggest arguments at the end of the book is to embrace change. By recognizing opportunities as well as the positives of change, we in the business world can constantly be upscaling our possibilities and reaching new heights of achievement.

So next time instead of being frustrated by change or trying to fight against it, try to look at the following positive aspects of change:

Better Value to End Customers

Most business models change for one reason: to get more people to buy. If one of your clients suddenly stops using your solution because they shifted to a different customer approach, realize that you, too, must make the same decision they did.

Map out how their change can positively affect the service offerings, price, convenience or all-of-the-above for your client’s operations. Then, try to emulate it in your own business model.

For instance, if they stop using a specific piece of software that requires manual entry for complaints in favor of one that captures them online automatically, you can look into how your operations can automate customer service issues to reduce touchpoints while accelerating the time to resolution.

Staying on the Hunt for New Cheese

Unlike the above example, some “move my cheese” moments are downright unfair and exploitative to the market. For instance, a music distribution service may stop compensating artists for music played for free as part of their services, as one tried to do in the recent past.

Regardless of how fair or not a drastic market change is, companies that make bold, controlling moves can often telegraph changes coming on the horizon that would arise organically. For instance, while it may be unfair to cut money away from artists that bring listeners to a service, the action of the company offering free samples can indicate the need for a more tempting value proposition in the market.

So, a company that suddenly loses out on being able to sell something for unfair reasons may soon encounter the same problem for entirely legitimate reasons. If they have a new program in the works that could have allowed them to adjust their approach, the unfair incident serves an alert signal to simply have the new solution roll out faster.

Independence from Market Forces

The bottom line that Who Moved My Cheese? helps to communicate relates to putting control in your own hands. When you rely too heavily on one system or one source of income, you never know when something could take that away.

Instead, you should be an opportunist that can also find ways to keep the ball in your court. Seek out ways to increase revenue and make your solution model irresistible, and you could eventually stop caring where the cheese goes at all because you can make some more right at home.

To ensure that you are making the most of every new opportunity, you can take a look at our short sales training videos to upskill your team and teach them to recognize new cheese fast. We recommend the Demo2Win! For Leaders – Sustainability video in particular.