There's a popular book (#6 on the March 1999 New York Times bestseller's list) making the rounds with corporate personnel and with Masons. Its unlikely title is Who Moved My Cheese? Written by Dr. Spencer Johnson, this little book follows up on this author's other famous works, The One-Minute Manager and The One-Minute Salesman.

Who Moved My Cheese? is a quick-read story about change. In the view of many Masons, it is also about the Fraternity. In this animal fable, Dr. Johnson tells the story of several characters, mice, who had become very used to their existing "cheese"—the way things are. They enjoy their trips down the labyrinth of their comfortable nest to huge piles of cheese where they indulged themselves. The cheese is very good, and they enjoy it every day.

One day, they discover the cheese is gone. Someone had moved the cheese! No longer was the supply available as it had been. One of the characters decides to wait and see if the cheese will return so he can enjoy it again. Another decides that waiting for things to change back to the way they were could be futile. He decides to go in search of new cheese.

Along the way, and in the many days he spends going down the wrong path, he discovers a great deal about change and about the importance of always being ready to find the new cheese—to look for another way of doing things and thus find cheese so that he does not fear when the cheese is moved again.

In making his discoveries, he writes messages on the walls of the labyrinth so he can remember what he has discovered along the way. Here are some of his discoveries. See how they apply to Masonry.

Change Happens—they keep moving the cheese.
Anticipate Change—get ready for the cheese to move.
Monitor Change—smell the cheese often so you are aware when it is getting old.
Adapt To Change Quickly—the quicker you let go of the old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.
Change—move with the cheese.
Enjoy Change—savor the adventure of finding new cheese.
Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy The New Cheese—they keep moving the cheese.

Thousands of Masons have read this book as a result of leadership development and renewal training conducted in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma, California, and elsewhere. To a man they say, "This is about us. It's about being a Mason and looking for change and not being afraid of what you discover."

Change has been a frequent topic of articles in the Scottish Rite Journal and in other Masonic publications. Evidently, Masons are getting serious about change. There are lessons to be learned in reading Who Moved My Cheese? In about 90 pages of large type with plenty of white space, Dr. Johnson sets out a challenge for all of us. Change is good. Looking for change is a right thing to do. Savoring sameness is dangerous. Those who look for change and embrace it when they find it are embracing behaviors that make them leaders.

Isn't it about time we got the message? 

Dudley G. Davis  is a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 116 in Towson, Maryland. For the last 10 years, he has been offering solutions to the problems associated with membership and leadership. He is the former consultant to the Masonic Renewal Committee of North America and the principal author of its materials on increasing member interest, Lodge planning, and involving the Lodge with the family and in the community. His most recent publications include The Essential Skills of Leadership and 75+ Ways To Attract and Retain Members.