Who Moved My Cheese is available globally in 42 languages and has sold over 28 million worldwide, it has now been translated and compiled to Sinhala by Ajantha Seneviratne, author, poet and engineer who is also the Group Chief Marketing Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom. Titled ‘Divi Maga Dinana Maga’, the book was launched amidst a distinguished gathering.
The first copy of the book was pre- sented to Rohan Fernando, Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom and signified the launch of the book. Dr Anuruddha Padeniya, President, Government Medical Officers Association, as well as Dilith Jayaweera, Chairman Derana were present on this occasion and provided insightful discus- sion points on change at the forum.
The book presents the concepts of change in a simple manner, focusing on four characters. Each character represents the different attitude towards change, where acquiring the ‘cheese’ is seen as success. You need to constantly keep mov- ing/changing to acquire new successes. In this process there are those who agree and disagree but both parties are correct in their thinking. The success of the book is not simply by valuing its content but also the manner in which those are applied in ones’ life. “The world today, doesn’t foster intelligence or intellectuals, it now produces a generation of creatures with qualifications,” was a statement made by a recognized professor, said Dr Anuruddha Padeniya, President of the Government Medical Officers Association.
The true meaning behind the statement that left the audience in quiet ponder, was explained further by Dr Anuruddha Padeniya. “What that professor meant by the generation of qualified creatures was that our humanity is slowly deteriorating. In the past we saw an educational system that developed intelligence and intellectual. Intelligence at its core becomes the key driver behind overcoming any challenge, be it COVID-19 or even its rumored sibling virus that is predicted to come in 2024. Nothing becomes a challenge with intelligence.” He stated in an interesting revelation about the current Sri Lankan educational system.
“That same education system that once built intelligence has unfortunately failed in four different ways,” he further elaborated. “The first being, that we have started producing educated individuals and focused less on building intelligence. Restricted within the white-collar mentality, we have lost a lot from the core of our education that once stood strong upon fostering intelligence. The parents and children that walk into my clinics, portray the grave truth about education, where many parents are now more focused on their children passing educational milestone and not on the gains that come with true knowledge,” he continued.
“Instead of westernizing what we have built over the years, we should be adapting our own unique versions to fit in and accommodate the changes and developments to further build the future,” added Dilith Jayaweera while further stat- ing, “We are a nation that is capable of thinking differently. We can think differently. We need to go forward in this unity that we have.”
‘Divi Maga Dinana Maga’ translation is an adaption that captures the true essence and importance of effectively managing the change in all circumstances of the business world, Dilith Jayaweera further elaborates that the success behind change management lies beneath the grasp of this perceptive translation. The book provides interesting insights on how one could deal with change at work and in life. The author, Ajantha Seneviratne in his vote of thank and concluding remarks stated very aptly, “The concept of change is something that does not change. We need to understand this. We need to sense change before it happens and prepare ourselves for that change and comply. Once we embrace change we can enjoy it happily, but we must keep in mind that there will be change again.”
