The international best-selling idea of moving cheese was the topic of last night's speech at HUB Heritage Hall.
About 40 people attended the speech in Heritage Hall at the HUB-Robeson Center to hear Craig Christensen, CEO and co-founder of Spencer Johnson Company, speak on the subject of change -- and who moved the cheese.
Who Moved My Cheese? is a business book written by Johnson about finding and obtaining "cheese," whatever is most important in life and fulfills a person's needs. Change is one of the things that prevents people from advancing in their lives, he said.
"It is not change that is going to damage you, but when you stop changing, that's [when] scary things are going to happen to you," Christensen said.
Christensen said that a person has to be open to change and trust their first instincts to keep up with their environments. He added that people should also have sensible visions of what they want to achieve it.
"Simple is enough, and nothing more," Christensen said.
In the middle of the presentation, Christensen asked the audience to take out a paper and pen and write a problem that has been bothering them. He then showed a movie on Who Moved My Cheese? and asked the audience to see how the solutions to change in the movie can help them overcome the problems in their lives.
"At some point, you say to yourself 'this isn't fair, this isn't what I signed up for,' " he said.
Christensen said there comes a point where you can no longer change a situation but have to begin making changes in yourself.
Five principals that he discusses with companies are being aware of change, asking what is possible if people aren't afraid of change, having a sensible vision of where change can bring them, reading the writing on the wall to realize when change is about to happen and acting on those "writings" to make the biggest difference within the corporation.
Julie Nagy (freshman-education) attended the speech for her first-year seminar class, but said she learned a lot from listening to Christensen's advice. "I think it might help me with future changes," Nagy said.
She added the speech has helped her think about the changes she has already made as a freshman at Penn State and moving away from home.
Quintin Schroeder (senior-marketing), a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, was responsible for bringing Christensen to Penn State and said he chose him because of his style of speaking and passion for his work. "He is a very dynamic and enthusiastic speaker," Schroeder said.
Megan Pashel, vice president of membership at Kappa Alpha Psi, said that as a senior she was especially interested in the topic of change. Seniors have nine months to figure out what want to do with their lives, so change becomes a major factor, she said.
