I Moved Your Cheese

Book excerpt: The author of Negotiating the Impossible “tackles our assumptions about business and life with humor, zest, and wisdom in this delightful fable” (Daniel H. Pink, New York Times-bestselling author). If you were a mouse trapped in a maze and someone kept moving the cheese, what would you do? In a world where most mice dutifully accept their circumstances, ask no questions, and keep chasing the cheese, Deepak Malhotra tells an inspiring story about three unique and adventurous mice—Max, Big, and Zed—who refuse to accept their reality as given. I Moved Your Cheese reveals what is possible when we finally discard long-held and widely accepted assumptions about how we should live our lives. After all, achieving extraordinary success, personal or professional, has always depended on the ability to challenge assumptions, reshape the environment, and play by a different set of rules—our own. But rejecting deeply ingrained beliefs is not easy. As Zed explains, “You see, Max, the problem is not that the mouse is in the maze, but that the maze is in the mouse.” “Deepak Malhotra allows you to glimpse a world of your own making without the limits and barriers that others create.” —Stephen R. Covey, New York Times-bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People “A magnificent story with a powerful message. As someone who has encouraged scores of professionals into breaking through the maze and defining their own pursuits, I find this to be a gem of a book.” —Vinod Khosla, cofounder, former CEO and Chairman, Sun Microsystems, and founder, Khosla Ventures “This book’s message is both profound and durable. Malhotra has left the maze, and so can we.” —Foreword Reviews