One sunny Sunday in
Angela, who had been one of the most popular people in the class, said, “Life sure turned out differently than I thought it would when we were in school. A lot has changed.”
“It certainly has, “ Nathan echoed. They knew he had gone into his family’s business, which had operated pretty much the same and had been a part of the local community for as long as they could remember. So, they were surprised when he seemed concerned. He asked, “But, have you noticed how we don’t want to change when things change?”
Carlos said, “I guess we resist changing because we’re afraid of change.”
“Carlos, you were Captain of the football team,” Jessica said. “I never thought I’d hear you say anything about being afraid!”
They all laughed as they realized that although they had gone off in different directions- from working at home to managing companies-they were experiencing similar feelings.
Everyone was trying to cope with the unexpected changes that were happening to them in recent years. And most admitted that they did not know a good way to handle them.
Then Michael said, “I used to be afraid of change. When a big change came along in our business, we didn’t know what to do. So we didn’t do anything differently and we almost lost it.
“That is,” he continued, “until I heard a funny little story that changed everything.”
“How so?” Nathan asked.
“Well, the story altered the way I looked at change, and after that, things quickly improved for me – at work and in my life.
“Then-I passed the story on to some people in our company and they passed it on to others, and soon our business did much better, because we all adapted to change better. And like me, many people said it helped them in their personal lives.”
“What’s the story?” Angela asked.
“It’s called, ‘Who Moved My Cheese?”
The group laughed. “I think I like it already,”
Carlos said. “Would you tell us the story?”
“Sure,” Michael replied. “I’d be happy to- It doesn’t take long.” And so he began.
芝加哥的同學(xué)聚會(huì)
芝加哥一個(gè)陽(yáng)光明明媚的星期天,許多過(guò)去在學(xué)校曾是好朋友的同班同學(xué)聚在一起搞午餐會(huì)。前一天晚上,他們剛參加完全體高中同學(xué)的聚會(huì)。在一陣打鬧嬉笑和豐盛和午餐后,他們坐下來(lái)開(kāi)始了饒有興致的交談,希望彼此多了解一些分別后的生活經(jīng)歷。
安杰拉曾是班上最受歡迎的人之一,她第一個(gè)發(fā)表感慨:“生活真的是跟我們做學(xué)生時(shí)想像的完全不一樣,變化太多了。”
“的確如此!”內(nèi)森附和道。內(nèi)森正如大家所預(yù)料的那樣,畢業(yè)后就進(jìn)入了他的家族企業(yè)。這家企業(yè)的經(jīng)營(yíng)模式經(jīng)年未變,在當(dāng)?shù)厝说挠洃浿校强墒且患覛v史悠久的老字號(hào)了。因此,當(dāng)內(nèi)森若有所思地附和著安杰拉,并發(fā)出如此感嘆時(shí),大家都感到有些吃驚。
內(nèi)森好像并未注意到大家的詫異,表情憂郁地接著說(shuō):“你們是否注意到,當(dāng)周圍的事情已經(jīng)發(fā)生變化時(shí),我們卻不想對(duì)自己有所改變。”
卡洛斯接著說(shuō)道:“我們拒絕改變,是因?yàn)槲覀兒ε赂淖儭?rdquo;
杰西卡接過(guò)他的話:“噢,卡洛斯,你可是學(xué)校的足球隊(duì)長(zhǎng),我們心目中的英雄,我從沒(méi)想過(guò)還有什么東西可以讓你害怕的。”
大家都笑了起來(lái)。他們都意識(shí)到,盡管大家畢業(yè)后都在各自不同的方面發(fā)展——從在家里工作到在外經(jīng)營(yíng)管理公司——但好像都有著類似的感覺(jué)——害怕改變。
這些年來(lái),每個(gè)人都試圖應(yīng)對(duì)發(fā)生在生活中的各種意想不到的變化。但大家都承認(rèn),他們找不到一種很好的應(yīng)對(duì)辦法。
這時(shí),邁克爾發(fā)話了:“我過(guò)去也一直害怕改變,直到有一天,我們的生意出現(xiàn)了一個(gè)重大的變故,但我們公司所有的人都不知道該怎樣去應(yīng)付,由于我們沒(méi)能及時(shí)做出調(diào)整,使我們幾乎丟掉了全部的生意。”
“后來(lái),”邁克爾繼續(xù)講道:“我聽(tīng)到了一個(gè)故事,這個(gè)故事使一切都改變了。”
“此話怎講?”內(nèi)森問(wèn)道。
“喔,因?yàn)檫@個(gè)故事改變了我害怕改變的個(gè)性以及我對(duì)變化的看法——從害怕失去某些東西到期待獲得某些東西——它教會(huì)我如何去做。從那以后,我的一切都迅速地改善了——無(wú)論工作還是生活。”
“是什么故事這么神奇?”好幾個(gè)人異口同聲地問(wèn)道。
“一開(kāi)始,我被這個(gè)故事顯而易見(jiàn)的簡(jiǎn)單給苦惱了,它就像我們小時(shí)候聽(tīng)膩了的那些寓言故事一樣。”
“再后來(lái),我把這個(gè)故事告訴我們公司里的其他人,其他人又講給其他人聽(tīng)。很快,公司里的業(yè)務(wù)有了明顯的改進(jìn),因?yàn)槲覀兇蠹叶寄芗皶r(shí)地做出很好的調(diào)整以隨時(shí)應(yīng)對(duì)變化。與我的感受一樣,許多人都說(shuō),這個(gè)故事使他們的個(gè)人生活大受裨益。”
“當(dāng)然,也有人說(shuō)他們從中沒(méi)有得到什么,他們或者是知道這樣的教訓(xùn)而且已經(jīng)領(lǐng)教多次了?!』蛘?,更普遍的是,他們覺(jué)得自己已經(jīng)懂得夠多,不需要再學(xué)習(xí)什么了。他們甚至假裝看不到如此多的人正在從中受益。”
“我的一位有些呆板的高級(jí)主管就說(shuō),讀這個(gè)故事只是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。然而大家都取笑他,把他比做故事中的一個(gè)角色——從不學(xué)習(xí)新的東西而且從不愿意改變。”
安杰拉有些迫不及待:“別賣關(guān)子了,這究竟是一個(gè)什么樣的故事?”
“故事的名字叫作‘誰(shuí)動(dòng)了我的奶酪’。”
大家都哄笑起來(lái)??逅拐f(shuō):“我想僅憑這個(gè)名字,我就已經(jīng)喜歡上這個(gè)故事了。你能講給我們聽(tīng)聽(tīng)嗎?或許我們也會(huì)從中有所收獲。”
“當(dāng)然,”邁克爾答道:“我非常愿意把這個(gè)故事講給你們聽(tīng)。它并不長(zhǎng)。”于是他開(kāi)始給大家講述這個(gè)故事。