This is more than just a parable about finding a new job. But it highlights the suffering of unemployment. So, often someone who lost their jobs will get stuck in a mental cycle their old jobs waiting to hire them back or find the same job in a very similar industry. However, if the industry is under economic pressure or if the business paradigm for the industry has changed dramatically, may no longer be a rich source of funding and the availability of employment there had been so reliable. In short, the cheese has moved.

This lesson has rich wisdom in the business working out scenarios. Businesses that have learned to adapt to market changes and has made changes to follow changes in new source of “cheese” is a business that survived decade after decade. Store industry has seen such a change. Many chain stores go belly up waiting for the cheese to return to the old paradigm. But others saw the invasion of big discounters like Wal-Mart and find ways to fight the change, to find a new niche in an industry where there is need for untapped markets or to compete in the new business paradigm. Another industry where dramatic changes such as forcing businesses to find out who moved the cheese is the recording industry and the bookselling business environment that has so greatly influenced by internet sales.

But these businesses survive. And if they can be aggressive and to adapt and change with the market, it was a good example for us all because we continue to seek new sources of “cheese”.