If at first you do succeed try something harder.

My previous article “Are you standing in your own way?” was a point of departure as regards the discourse on the indeterminate nature of life and our propensity to use a “command and control” response to this inevitable.  In this article, I wish to continue the discussion on that conundrum; the indeterminate nature of life, and present another orientation that we usually employ when dealing with life. In a pursuit of our goals, we sometimes get repeatable success and results by employing a certain approach or strategy in our various endeavours, whether it is at work, school, and business or in relationships. Too often many people are lured into what is called “win-stay” orientation in behavioural psychology. In “win-stay”, we repeatedly employ one particular strategy if it brings about the desired results. For example, a student may use a certain studying technique repeatedly if it has proven to help him pass his exams. If whatever you are doing is giving you the results you desire, then you will invariably keep doing it. 

At this stage, we are ecumenical on the point that life is unpredictable, that it has its own mind and usually takes in own course. We are usually thrown into hysteria when our win-stay strategy doesn’t work anymore; when what we used to do, and brought desired results doesn’t work anymore. Life is in a constant state of change. What used to work today may not necessarily work tomorrow.

There is no better story that exemplifies this than the story of Hem and Haw in the highly referenced book in Spencer Johnson’s oeuvres called “Who moved my cheese?” Hem and Haw were two little people, same size as mice who lived near a maze and would go into the maze everyday looking for cheese. If they find this cheese, they would feel happy and successful. One day Hem and Haw found what they were looking for – their kind of cheese at Cheese Station C and they were elated. Each morning they would run to the station to enjoy the tasty cheese that awaited them. After a few days, they realised that the cheese was enough to last them a lifetime. Hence, they started waking up a little late, taking time to get dressed and walked to the station instead of running. Not surprisingly, Hem and Haw employed a “win-stay” strategy; they moved their homes closer to the cheese station and built a social life around it. They would invite their friends over and show them their cheese accomplishment.

One day Hem and Haw woke up, and to their dismay, the indeterminate nature of life had kicked in; there was no longer cheese at the station. They were unprepared for this. The change immobilised them, as they sat down crying and yelling “who moved my cheese?” They returned the following day hoping that whoever moved their cheese would have returned it, but the station was empty. The thought of starting a new cheese search was unbearable. Every day, they returned to the station with hope, but they grew more depressed, the cheese was no longer. This is the danger with ‘win-stay” strategy. The one skill that got you a good job for ten years may become obsolete and the company lets you go, because you didn’t learn any other skill. Some of the top companies in the world went bankrupt due to “win-stay” strategy and failed to reinvent themselves. 

Hem and Haw had mice neighbours; Sniff and Scurry who were also looking for cheese. Sniff and Scurry however, used an eccentric strategy called “win-shift”. In win-shift, after you win the first time, you shift to a new strategy of winning, and winning in that way you shift again and find a new way of winning. If you then shift and lose, you can fall back onto the previous strategies that won. There is a proverb that says “If at first you do succeed try something harder”. Sniff and Scurry also found their kind of cheese at the station and they were happy. Each morning, just like Hem and Haw, they would rush to the station to get cheese. The difference was, the mice would tie their running shoes on their necks while they nibble on the cheese, ** and later in the afternoon, they would put their shoes on and go searching for more cheese in the maze. After a few days, they found more cheese at Cheese Station N and later at Cheese Station M. As the indeterminate nature of life is not discriminatory, one morning just like Hem and Haw, Sniff and Scurry found no more cheese at Station C. They were not surprised and were prepared for the inevitable and knew instinctively what to do.

** This piece is not included in the original book; "Who Moved My Cheese" by Dr. Spencer Johnson and was added here for emphasis on "Win-Shift" Strategy