Who moved my cheese … again
I’m reminded yet again as I read the morning news of the volatile times we live in. Job losses (or small gains more lately thankfully) especially in technology and engineering all seem familiar and normal nowadays. Those of you recall the high tech crash of 2002/2003 may remember a book called “Who Moved My Cheese“, an excellent and short story about groups of mice faced with the same challenges, but dealing with them in a different way. BTW, this is a must read for anyone who has either gone through or is facing a new set of challenges either in your personal or business lives, specifically a job loss, company shutdown, products losing steam and so on.
The book basically says (in far more eloquent works that I’ve put here):
- Stuff happens… there’s nothing you can do to stop that
- Something that was new a while back may now be stale and old
- Stop looking to renew something that is at the end of its road
- New opportunities are out there for those that look for it – just go.
- Make sure you look and don’t wait for stuff to come to you
- Never, never give up searching for something fresh and new
Having been through this many times now in both product and personal development situations, this old wisdom is definately on the money and best of all, simple enough even for us tekinerds to understand and relate to. This up and down economy is a norm we all have to get used to and more importantly adapt to. We all have to (continue to) educate ourselves as to what end users or technology really need versus what we can build, and focus on addressing real problems that exist and can be solved. This way, we’ve increased the chances that what we’re working on is relevant and needed.
Whatever your situation, happy adapting… again.
