Product Description

From one of the world's most recognized experts on management comes a charming parable filled with insights designed to help readers manage change quickly and prevail in changing times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

Amazon.com Review
Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. The message of Who Moved My Cheese? is that all can come to see it as a blessing, if they understand the nature of cheese and the role it plays in their lives. Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable that takes place in a maze. Four beings live in that maze: Sniff and Scurry are mice--nonanalytical and nonjudgmental, they just want cheese and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Hem and Haw are "littlepeople," mouse-size humans who have an entirely different relationship with cheese. It's not just sustenance to them; it's their self-image. Their lives and belief systems are built around the cheese they've found. Most of us reading the story will see the cheese as something related to our livelihoods--our jobs, our career paths, the industries we work in--although it can stand for anything, from health to relationships. The point of the story is that we have to be alert to changes in the cheese, and be prepared to go running off in search of new sources of cheese when the cheese we have runs out.

Dr. Johnson, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and many other books, presents this parable to business, church groups, schools, military organizations--anyplace where you find people who may fear or resist change. And although more analytical and skeptical readers may find the tale a little too simplistic, its beauty is that it sums up all natural history in just 94 pages: Things change. They always have changed and always will change. And while there's no single way to deal with change, the consequence of pretending change won't happen is always the same: The cheese runs out. --Lou Schuler

From Library Journal
This is a brief tale of two mice and two humans who live in a maze and one day are faced with change: someone moves their cheese. Reactions vary from quick adjustment to waiting for the situation to change by itself to suit their needs. This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. Change occurs whether a person is ready or not, but the author affirms that it can be positive. His principles are to anticipate change, let go of the old, and do what you would do if you were not afraid. Listeners are still left with questions about making his or her own specific personal changes. Capably narrated by Tony Roberts, this audiotape is recommended for larger public library collections.AMark Guyer, Stark Cty. Dist. Lib., Canton, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Over and over listeners are subjected to one self-help lecture after another. WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? is different! Listeners learn invaluable life lessons about "change" by way of a humorous parable narrated by Tony Roberts. His memorable interpretation of two mice and two tiny people caught in a maze (life's many paths) searching for cheese (a metaphor for your heart's desire) is gratifying and good fun. Hem and Haw, the tiny people, emulate us humans with all our faults, fears and frustrations. Roberts provides them with distinct personalities that mimic many stressed-out individuals we have grown to know. Overcoming stress and discovering successful living is the goal, and Roberts takes the listener on a curious and offbeat journey to discover the path. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Littlepeople and Mice
I am somewhat interested by the characters in this book. A quick read that tells a story about human reluctance to change.

happiness is for everyone, and change is always difficult to deal with
Written for the company development plan, this book has helped to save many an individual that I know, including myself from falling under the heavy weight of change.

Using cheese as a metaphor for happiness, it makes sense that if we were mice it would be difficult not to be affected by the loss of our beloved food.

Life is fluid and most people find this inconsistency unsettling. I found this book most helpful in the approach it takes to changes in our lives and would want to share that with as many people as I could.

Are you ready to change?
If you have trouble with change you will like this book because it will force you to think about why change is such a problem to you and then, once the awareness strikes, you can change and deal with change more effectively.

I also like The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book as a change primer, and, moreso, as a book that showed me how I can be more effective personally and in my relationships with others.

Oh, as for parables, the only other one I like besides the Cheese is Squawk!: How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results. It's a better read than Cheese and it's lessons are no less powerful.