Book Comparison - Who Moved My Cheese, Managing Transitions, Fish Sticks

By Noor Yacoub, Purdue University

During the past couple of weeks, we’ve had the chance to read three different books, Managing Transitions, Who Moved My Cheese?, and Fish! Sticks, which have three somewhat different, yet similar outlooks on change. Their similarities and differences will be discussed in this paper.

Starting with the obvious, Managing Transitions is written in a textbook like manner and is a much harder than reading than the light-hearted Who Moved My Cheese? and Fish! Sticks. While the latter are more situational, putting you in an actual situation and identifying concepts as the story progresses, Managing Transitions is more psychological conveying how to deal with change step-by-step and how to handle it emotionally.

Another difference is one between Fish! Sticks and Who Moved My Cheese?. Who Moved My Cheese? exemplifies the process of change while Fish! Sticks illustrates how to actually maintain the change you endure. On the other hand, a similarity or a link between them is when Fish! Sticks refers to “IT,” that can be reflected to the “cheese” in Who Moved My Cheese? which is defined as “what you want in life.” Furthermore, Fish! Sticks explains how to achieve your “IT” and that can be mirrored by the “maze” in Who Moved My Cheese” since it is explained as the path in which to reach your “cheese.”

A similarity between Who Moved My Cheese? and Managing Transitions is the reference to the marathon effect. Managing Transitions gives its definition and explains its implication in the change process while Who Moved My Cheese? emphasizes the concept with a comparison between the characters Hem and Haw. Fish! Sticks and Managing Transitions have a similarity much like this one but it deals with another concept, organizational life cycle and renewal. Again, Managing Transitions explains the stages along with their impact on change. In this example though, we’re focusing on the Dying stage of an organization’s life cycle and the entire organizational renewal process since they are the ones reflected in Fish! Sticks. It is depicted in the story with how Good Samitarian Hospital overcomes its changes and begins to use new, innovative ways to sustain them under a new management team.

Another similarity they share is the concept of the 4 P’s. Managing Transitions talks about the 4 P’s (purpose, plan, picture, part to play) as the key to make a transition successful. Fish! Sticks exemplifies purpose, which is to help the employees regain their initial energy for their work, the picture, which is the idea of how much better they could be, the plan, passed on to them by Ishy and Rhonda, and finally the part to play, which is when they formed the three groups and each took on a concept (find IT, live IT, coach IT) to help them realize their purpose.

The final similarity, which all three books share, is the change cycle. As a general conception the Ending Phase is emphasized in Who Moved My Cheese? where the characters are learning to let go of their “old cheese.” The Neutral Zone is highlighted in Managing Transitions, where one learns exactly how to psychologically move on from the past and embrace the future which is what the Neutral Zone is all about. And finally, the New Beginning is embodied in Fish! Sticks where the company has already embraced its new beginning and thinking of ways to sustain it. However, this concept of the change cycle is stressed more in Managing Transitions and Who Moved My Cheese? more than Fish! Sticks. Who Moved My Cheese? depicts the detailed concepts found in Managing Transitions, by illustrating the “old cheese” as the Ending Phase, the “maze” as the Neutral Zone, and the “new cheese” as the New Beginning.

In general, there are more similarities in these books than differences, which leads us to believe that when going through change, everything interconnects, and everything is essential.