Are you resistant to change within the job place or home environment? It is safe to say that change within our work or home environment is inevitable. In Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work & in Your Life, Spencer Johnson, M.D. allows cheese to become a metaphoric representation for what we want to have in life, and provides suggestions for adapting to change. This publication could assist you with building your coping mechanism for tolerance of change. The wording is simple, yet the message is strong. I suggest this book if you resist change, are close to a person dealing with a large change, or to anybody that likes self-help books. In my opinion, this book provides applicable assistance.
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work & in Your Life
FEATURING ’’HEM’’ AND ’’HAW’’
& ’’SNIFF’’ AND ’’SCURRY’’
By: Spencer Johnson, M.D.
ISBN: 0-399-14446-3
Within the 94 pages of this self-help book we are treated to a simplistic parable with four star players.
Four Fictional Stars That We Sometimes Act Like.
Sniff
Who sniffs out change early
Scurry
Who scurries into action
Hem
Who denies and resists change, as he fears it will lead to something worse
Haw
Who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing leads to something better
These four fictional characters venture through a maze in search of cheese. This maze is intended to represent where we look for what we want. The cheese is symbolic or metaphoric for what we want. Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw exhibit diverse mannerisms that show four innately different character approaches. Many readers will relate with these characters.
Spencer Johnson, M.D. helps us realize that by learning to deal with change we enable ourselves to enjoy more success and be less stressed. Although no immediate cures are offered in this book, the author provides multiple stress reducing suggestions. If you battle with change it is likely that you’ll find benefit from the parable presented.
Who Moved My Cheese? is available worldwide, in twenty-six languages, and continues to be on best seller listings. The font is large, and the entire story may be read in one setting. I completed the entire book in 45 minutes, and read it a second time with my family. I deal with chronic illness so the information presented in this book helped all of us to cope with the changes that life dealt. My children were 6 & 11 at the time we read this book. They enjoyed the tale.
Dr. Spencer Johnson allows the messages to be delivered in a simple manner, allowing this book to be enjoyed by many. The storytelling flow of the tale captivates reader interest. As much as I like this book, I do feel that it isn’t a ‘fix all’ nor does it address the many issues that people face when companies downsize or spring other major changes onto the employee base. But the fact of life is that change happens, so we have to prepare ourselves. The more prepared we are, the better equipped we can be to move forward. Ultimately we can’t control management decisions, but we can train ourselves to react in a healthy manner. In summary, this book is good preventative maintenance but not a proper tool for critical situations.
©2002 Lisa_J