Who’s still moving the cheese?

I was 21 when I read Who Moved My Cheese? during a two-week military leadership development course.

It was one of those highlighted leadership books—assigned reading that became part of my early leadership journey. It was a quick read about how change is inevitable and embracing it is the key to success and happiness. It was a simple metaphor, a thoughtful team discussion, and one that stuck with me.

Fast forward to present day, years into my work with executive leaders, and that phrase reappeared in a discussion. We all got the metaphor. In a room full of experienced decision-makers, it still held weight.

And that made me pause.

Not because the reference was wrong, but because it made me wonder: Why do certain ideas keep shaping our leadership conversations years, even decades later?

Here's the thing: I love leadership. I love business.

I love the people-process-technology framework, the human side of performance, behavioral models that make us better, clarity that comes from the right framework at the right time, and tools that help make sense of complexity. My bookshelves are full and pages underlined. I work to apply these insights in real time because I care deeply about how we show up as leaders and the environments we build.

But I also ask questions. And this moment led me to one.

Starting in 2008, the year my freshly printed undergraduate diploma hit my hands, I looked across the top 10 notable business and leadership books that appeared on the New York Times Best Seller lists through 2024. Here's what I found*:

• Of the books on the list, 17 titles showed up across multiple years, some holding their place for more than a decade.

• Out of the complete list of recurring names, just 31 authors made up the bulk of repeat appearances.

• Of those 31, 17 authors are known for just one book that continues to dominate conversations year after year.

• And 14 authors have appeared on the list with more than one title.

It's a classic case of the power law, where a small number of voices hold most of the influence.

Now, I've learned a lot from those books. Atomic Habits, Grit, Quiet, Outliers, Deep Work, and Dare to Lead each offered something I've carried forward. The author's works may keep showing up because the insights are so profound. Maybe they transcend formats, are being adapted into new mediums, reshaped for new audiences, or passed along generationally with fresh context. Who Moved My Cheese? remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for almost five years and remains one of the best-selling business books.

And maybe that's it. They are simply great books.

But it also raises questions I keep coming back to, questions we ask within our leadership teams:

• Whose voices are we prioritizing?

• Whose perspectives are missing?

• Are we expanding our thinking or circling the same ground?

Is it because the foundations still hold, as we continue to reference Drucker's management theories? Or is it something else? A default? A circling we've never fully paused to question?

And maybe more importantly: How are we working with the ideas we hold?

Because creating doesn't always mean publishing. Sometimes, creating looks like how you lead a team, how you build trust, the references you make, and how you design a meeting, a system, or a decision-making process.

I don't have a clean answer or framework. But maybe it's worth asking.

*I'm good at research, but data can shift. However, the broader pattern? It's there.