Rating: Summary: this 'cheese' stinks Review: I am so glad I borrowed this 'book' from the library instead of parting with my hard-earned cash. However, the eight - ten hours I spent reading it are 8 hours of my life that I'm never going to get back. The sooner the public gets wise to self-help claptrap like this (some self-help books are well written and helpful - not this one), then the sooner it can stop lining the pockets of jokers like Spencer Johnson.
Rating: Summary: Everything but the Cheese Review: I may have been slightly prejudiced in my opinion, at first, by the reason I was presented with Who Moved the Cheese? I merely expressed the fact to my new boss that I was stressed at work, s/he immediately presented this book to everyone in my department. Bibliotherapy, I think it's called. Diagnosis: resistance to change. However, I was amused. I like small, cute animals, and there was some insight into people's reactions, a pitch for cognitive adjustment, and some human-nature stuff that almost everyone might identify with. The real Cheese with a capital "C" in this allegory, however, was lost in the maze. My particular bias is that nowhere did the author mention "Search your heart," or "Look at the values involved." The resultant credo implied is "Change (any change)is good, so hop on the TGV." If a boss could get us to swallow that, s/he'd have no management problems, no impediments, no moral imperatives, and complete control. I will agree that change is inevitable. I pray for the serenity to accept things I cannot change. And, I really do like my new boss. Perhaps it's because I am a baby-boomer, but I happen to have a yen for some of the values I see diminished in the face of change: things like civility; green, fresh areas within easy access; a human, aesthetic appeal to cities, for example. I wonder if a more studied, considerate approach to change, which preserves the best and lets go of the rest, might yield different results? Different human beings? And the big, Big Cheese: a feeling of peace and that we are on the "way of the heart', the answer to real stress relief, might not escape us. Incidentally, Mr. Spencer, are you sleeping O.K. at night?
Rating: Summary: Strong messages, weak book Review: I am a sophomore in high school, and our English class just finished reading this book. Very few people enjoyed it, and most of us were annoyed by the way the metaphors were presented and beaten over our heads. They were very simplistic and fairly obvious, and lacked in creativity. Though the messages were strong, helpful, and true, the book as a whole left something to be desired.
Rating: Summary: Where are my sunglasses? Review: I cannot believe this book is number 1. After reading it, I needed to go find my sunglasses because I had just been struck by a blinding flash of the obvious. If you need an allegory about mice in a maze to lead you to clarity in life and work, this is the book for you. However, if you want to save yourself a few bucks, here is my summary: People have a comfort zone. Sometimes you have to leave that comfrot zone. Change is hard but change is good. Be adaptable. We need Spencer Johnson to tell us this? With mice? The extended metaphor that we are all rats in a maze (which, people seem to identify with though by these reviews) gets old fast. If you need this book - go buy aesop's fables for some more deep revelations like the one in this book. This is number 1? OMG.
Rating: Summary: A fairy tale, not a Bible Review: (2nd post, revised version) "Who moved my cheese" is a simple and sweet fairy tale for grow-ups. The uniqueness of this book is that it avoids the arrogant "teach-you-how-to-live" attitude some other self-help book carry. Without blaming and judging its readers, it sends encouraging messages, telling people that during the difficult time of change, it is common to be afraid, to feel reluctant to let go the past. It also doesn't forget to address that when you start to make a change, things will not turn better immediately, it will take a while before you can find the right track. The whole book is written in a very considerate way, you can pretty much relate to the feelings of the characters in the book. Now... This book is NOT, as what it claimed, a business book or a management book. Although you can apply the ideas to the business/management, the book itself doesn't tell anything about business at all. I am amazed to learn from previous comments here that many companies "force" their employees to read the book. It can easily backfire. The "cheese" in the employer's eyes may be the profit of the company. Don't expect the employees to think the same way when the company is in recession, especially when it is in recession because of bad management. The "cheese" employees want could be a new job opportunity. Just keep this in mind when you force someone to read this book. It is not a "cure-all" book. It will not be a classic. It is too simple to cover all the scenarios in life. The content between the covers assures you a relaxed, casual reading, while the reviews and comments on the covers try to convince you that you are reading a new bible. One star off for the misleading hypes and ads. Without the hype, it is a good book. I recommend a real management book on how to deal with change: "Only the paranoid survive".
Rating: Summary: A Truly Bad Sermon Review: One other reviewer described this as simple but useful. I'd say simplistic and useless.....
Rating: Summary: Tripe Review: Valuable only for the feeble minded. Another opus from the 1-minute thinker. Far better is the book "Who Cut my Cheese" by Stilton Jarlsberg. This latter book (a parody) provides far more useful and realistic advice than the book by Johnson. Plus, it is a much more enjoyable read.
Rating: Summary: My Cheese is in another Maze Review: I, like many readers of this book received it from my employer. The company that I work for is restructuring. I had been in great debate about whether I needed to accept the changes or move on. After reading this "book" it was clear that I needed to move to another maze. The idea of working for someone who views his employees as either "mice" or "little people" sickens me. This book is the worse kind of manipulation. Preying on the weak, that are afraid to stand up for themselves. I must say that I got much more insight from the reviews of the book than from the book itself.
Rating: Summary: Simple But Very Useful! Review: I was introduced to this book through my job -- there are 10 or 12 copies floating around our organization. The story is simplistic, that's true -- but I find that the lessons it outlines have really stayed in my mind and reminded me to keep an eye out for new opportunities. My industry (securities) is undergoing vast changes and it's both exciting and scary to be in the midst of all the movement. Thanks, Spencer, for laying out the information in such a simple, palatable form. I actually found the fact that the book was stated as a simple fable made it more memorable, and made it be more impactful. Some reviewers seemed to have found it insulting to be compared to mice. But, if the truth be told, our behavior is often simple and even silly at times. I have seen it over and over again, and it is not that far fetched that the mice in the story were able to cope with change more easily than the humans. Humans, after all, have both the gift and the curse of memory of the past and worry about the future. I feel that Who Moved My Cheese is a noble attempt to bring us into a more pragmatic and appropriate set of behavior - giving us FLEXIBILITY to cope with the present, and with the unexpected changes in our work world. I'd also like to thank another reviewer who mentioned a book that sounded intriguing -- "Working on Yourself Doesn't Work" - by Ariel & Shya Kane. What a great read! It's simple, humorous and totally enlightening. It delves into the interior tools we need to be "in the moment" -- and the Kanes point out that when a person is "in the moment" and not worried about the future or resentful about the past -- he or she can see a myriad of new possibilities. Their three Principles of Transformation have made a dramatic difference in my approach to work and my ability to cope with change. Working on Yourself Doesn't Work is a great book that I highly recommend. A great companion piece to Who Moved My Cheese!
Rating: Summary: Cheesy - Don't waste your money or time with this book Review: I really regret buying this book. I thought I would find something really different, a nice story about change in a pleasant format... A 10-year-old could write this one. Not even the "real life" examples at the end are good. Really frustrating. As many other readers found out, it was a big waste of time and money.
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