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"Who Moved My Cheese/Blog Button?" A Lesson on Embracing Change

By Rich Jacobson

Real Estate Agent with Fathom Realty West Sound WA State 52404

October 14, 2008 08:59 AM

As a community, we recently experienced a rather unnerving, yet entertaining adventure as the cherished 'BLOGS' button (located in the Task Bar just above) bid a rather hasty and unexpected 'Adieu' and disappeared from the ActiveRain landscape.

The ensuing uproar from our members over this change was interesting to observe. Here's just a few comments to the dozens of 'rants' that were posted in response to the change:

"Im so frustrated this morning and so very lost Im ready to leave and never come back"...

"I agree. I just left a comment in another blog: maybe it is time to pack up and leave. This really does not make sense!"

"It's annoying that every time you now go onto Active Rain you have to spend time learning the newest change. It would be nice, like we used to, to go on just read posts without all the changes."

What was interesting to note was that the BLOGS button wasn't removed completely, its location was simply re-arranged. Rather than being included into the Task Bar, it was placed just below, in what is referred to as the 'Breadcrumb Navigation' bar:

Home : Blogs : Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain Community Builder : Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain

Have you ever read the book, "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, M.D? I can remember going through a particularly difficult time in my professional career where I had been caught up in a massive lay-off. I had invested many long years working my way up the proverbial corporate ladder, sacrificing significant time away from family as the consummate Road Warrior, only to become a number on some accountant's spreadsheet. At the on-set, I was devastated. I felt a great sense of disappointment and loss for failing to successfully achieve my goals for advancement. But as I look back on those circumstances now, it was perhaps one of the best things that ever happened to me.

During the weeks that followed, I began to re-evaluate my life and re-establish my priorities. One thing I had quickly determined - whatever path or direction I pursued, I would make my wife and family a priority, and start spending more quality time with them.

A friend suggested that I read the book, "Who Moved My Cheese?' It was from the same author who co-wrote 'The One-Minute Manager," a book I had enjoyed greatly early on in my career. The book deals with 4 characters - two mice named 'Sniff' and 'Scurry' and two mini-humans, 'Hem' and 'Haw.' They all live together in a maze, and spend their time looking for cheese. They all find this HUGE stash of cheese and begin to establish comfortable routines centered around the seeming abundance of cheese. But one day, they discover that the cheese is gone. The rest of the book relates how each of the characters respond to the cheese's disappearance.

Perhaps one of the most liberating moments in the book is when 'Haw' poses the question, "What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?"

Change is unsettling. Change upsets our comfort zone. Change disturbs the predictability of routine. Change instills fear.

But change can definitely be a positive, motivating process. As unsettling, upsetting, or disturbing as it may seem, change can lead us in directions we never would have thought possible or otherwise considered. Change allows us the freedom to explore limitless possibilities.

The book offers the following outline for change:

Change Happens

They Keep Moving The Cheese

Anticipate Change

Get Ready For The Cheese To Move

Monitor Change

Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old

Adapt To Change Quickly

The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese

Change

Move With The Cheese

Enjoy Change!

Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!

Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again & Again

They Keep Moving The Cheese.

Given all of the events that have unfolded recently - the Sub-Prime debacle, the global financial meltdown, and talks of potential depression, I'd say the chances for 'Change' are very likely to occur and impact most, if not all of us. The question we must be prepared to ask is how will we respond to that change? Will we end up like 'Hem' and simply sit around waiting for the cheese to return? Or, will we embrace/enjoy the change, and embark on an exciting new adventure in life?

Just as I was getting ready to publish this article, I came across this post and thought it appropriate:

Kathy Clulow "ActiveRain is a Rolling Stone"

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Roger V

Swift Marketing - Studio City, CA

Don't forget the kid's book version of Who Moved My Cheese! It's a great lesson for kids and parents alike, I read it to my 5yr old.

Oct 14, 2008 05:14 PM

Katrina Madewell

Charles Rutenberg Rlty- More than 5,000 agents(813) 777-1196 - Tampa, FL

Tampa FL Homes for sale | Tampa Bay - (813) 777-1196

Very familiar with WHO MOVED MY CHEESE and the Active Rain cheese has been shifted indeed! Stop whinning about it people and learn to adapt and over come!

Also, another favorite book of mine is QBQ! question behind the question. It's alll about taking self accountabity and stop blaming others! Great book!

Great Post Rich - right on time!

Katrina in TAMPA

Oct 14, 2008 05:39 PM

Christine Donovan

Donovan Blatt Realty - Costa Mesa, CA

Broker/Attorney 714-319-9751 DRE01267479 - Costa M

I think I need to go reread the book. I try to enjoy change. I think the problem is that many enjoy the status quo.

Oct 14, 2008 07:05 PM

Rich Jacobson

Fathom Realty West Sound - Poulsbo, WA

Your Kitsap County WA Real Estate Broker

Jeff: Hey, man...don't hold back. Tell me what you REALLY feel! I am so glad we got to spend some time together in Vegas. It really helps to frame our discussions here. I completely agree that 'before' changes are made, the masses need to be informed. We've made our fair share of well-intended errors in this regard. It would certainly limit the amount of 'rant' posts that typically ensue. I think there are times when our programers have made changes in the past, usually for very good reasons, that they don't realize how those changes might impact our members. What to them may seem like a slight, insignificant change, can actually be a HUGE variation for our members. Such was the case with the BLOGS button. Do you remember when they changed the Dashboard? Back when the 'Subscribed' side was a descending list of the most popular bloggers? This was when we rated member's posts on a scale of 1 to 5, and the highest rated bloggers showed up on the dashboard? We got so used to seeing the same people up there. It was like your 'Friends' on MySpace. I remember the uproar when they made that change. I felt so suddenly disconnected. It was like going to 'Cheers' for a drink, and no one is there! I don't think they announced that one either, and it was a much more significant change than the BLOGS button. But looking back, the change was a good one. It improved the overall value of our involvement.

Regardless, my point here wasn't necessarily to debate the right or wrong of the BLOGS button issue, but simply an observation on how people normally react to a change in their environment. Most times, we don't have the luxury of being notified when change is coming. One of the points of the book is learning how to anticipate change and to adapt when it happens.

But again, with regards to our network, as with any online experience, any changes that may potentially affect ease-of-navigation should be properly communicated to our members prior to the change being implemented.

Oct 14, 2008 07:09 PM

Karen Rice Keller Williams Real Est

Keller Williams Real Estate - Hawley, PA

Northeast PA & Lake Wallenpaupack Home Sales

Christine, this had nothing to do with "enjoying the status quo" and everything to do with being frustrated over a USABILITY ISSUE.

Web design 101: KISS, keep it simple stupid, and that includes BASIC NAVIGATION. Suddenly a link that should have been available and easy to find was NOT. A surefire way to end up featured on WebPagesThatSuck.com (yes it's a real site) is to have complicated navigation.

Katrina - guess how consumers "adapt and move on" when a website is no longer user friendly and easy to use?

they definitely move on - to another website that IS user friendly and easy to use.

And I really doubt that it's the wisest thing to just swallow every change that comes along as "Life happens, accept it, deal with it." If it's something that is important to you and you need to get it "changed back" then the smart thing is to become that squeaky wheel and work on getting things "right" again.

That's called "fighting for what you believe in" - even if it's as simple as a link on a website.

Had the blog link simply been moved but still available on ALL the pages there probably would not have been the same amount of uproar that there was.

Oct 14, 2008 11:07 PM

Kris Wales

Keller Williams Realty - Lakeside Market Center - Macomb, MI

Real Estate Blog & Homes for Sale search site, Macomb County MI

My take? We've all had so much change lately that it was akin to taking away our comfort blankie. (Yes, we can act like 2 year olds can't we? No matter how old we get...:-)

But threatening to leave over it?

Goodness. That shocked me.

Oct 14, 2008 11:30 PM

Neal Bloom

Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL

Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

I hate cheese anyway so I didn't see any difference...I just find my way around....I expect it everyday since I'm around here for a long long time and see all the changes.

Oct 15, 2008 12:29 AM

Jeremy Blanton

Myrtle Beach Homes Blog - Myrtle Beach, SC

Myrtle Beach REALTOR®- myrtlebeachhomesblog.com

Rich, do you have any extra mozzarella, I wanna make some pizza for dinner...

Oct 15, 2008 05:26 AM

Bobby Wallace

Vacant Land Solutions - Charleston, SC

Sell Your Vacant Land The Hassle Free Way!

Rich - I purchased the audio version of "Who moved my cheese & listen to eat at least once a week just to remind me "To move with the cheese"; it also helps me recognize the 'Haws" of the world and that I am wasting my time trying to change them. Thanks for sharing!

Oct 15, 2008 06:29 AM

"The Lovely Wife" The One And Only TLW.

President-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Kissimmee, FL

Just so you know...

Every time this comes up in my email, for whatever reason, it makes me grin. It takes talent to make TLW grin at just another addition to an AR Comment thread :)

TLW...ROAR!

Oct 15, 2008 06:35 AM

Courtney Cooper

Cooper Jacobs - Seattle, WA

206-850-8841

I like change! Keep up the good work!

Oct 15, 2008 06:59 AM

Marilyn Katz

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties - Westport, CT

ABR, e-PRO - WestportCTProperties.com

It would certainly limit the amount of 'rant' posts that typically ensue.

Rich- In this case, the creative story lines that followed the disappearing button saga, were a fun distraction from the awful economic news. Of course, they were only fun AFTER the Blogs button was restored.

Oct 15, 2008 08:02 AM

Natalie Langford

Realty Negotiations - Winchester, VA

Winchester, VA Real Estate

Hey, have only been away because I've been busy. I know AR is making my phone ring and keeping me away at the same time! Grateful for the changes to improve SEO, just please don't forget to feed those hamsters. (are they still hamsters?)

Oct 15, 2008 03:02 PM

Lisa Hill

Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL

Daytona Beach Real Estate

I found all the blog drama, after the fact. I noticed the changes when I logged in, on the day the changes were made, but I quickly found the button and went about my business. I did enjoy reading all the hilarious blogs about it though. I guess you weren't as amused ;)

And I have "Who Moved My Cheese" on CD. It's good to take it off the shelf and listen to it again, at least once a year!

Oct 15, 2008 05:23 PM

Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400

HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD

Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Rich, Does it really matter who moved the cheese? The challenge is to always be prepared to go find it.

We bought a dozen copies and gave them our when the book was first published.

Oct 16, 2008 11:34 AM

Larry Bettag

Cherry Creek Mortgage Illinois Residential Mortgage License LMB #0005759 Cherry Creek Mortgage NMLS #: 3001 - Saint Charles, IL

Vice-President of National Production

Great book. I know that those who don't change fall behind. i want to lead the pack. This is a great motivation. Very simple but positive book Rich.

Oct 19, 2008 04:19 PM

Fran Gaspari

Patriot Land Transfer, Inc. - Limerick, PA

"The Title Man" - Title Insurance - PA & NJ

Rich,

You said, "Change allows us the freedom to explore limitless possibilities."...and freedom allows us to explore limitless possibilities for change!!! Thanks, Fran

Oct 20, 2008 06:14 AM

Marilyn Katz

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties - Westport, CT

ABR, e-PRO - WestportCTProperties.com

Interesting. "Who Moved My Cheese" was brought up, as recommended reading, at my office's sales meeting, this morning.

Oct 20, 2008 07:28 AM

The Somers Team

The Somers Team at KW Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA

Delivering Real Estate Happiness

The move was no big deal to us ! I found the blogs thing pretty easily and barely noticed the change... I do not and still do not understand the uproar ! The "Who Moved My Cheese Analogy" is great - that was one of my favourite books when I read it... I thought it was brilliant and still is.

Oct 21, 2008 12:19 PM

Debra Kukulski, Broker Associate

RE/MAX Suburban - Cary, IL

SRES;SFR,CDPE;GRI;ABR;e-PRO Realtor, Northern IL

Change is something we will never get away from, especially in our industry. "Who Moved My Cheese" is a great quick read.

Nov 01, 2008 05:11 AM