Rating: Summary: Soon to be a pamphlet? Review: An inspiring parable. However, I must agree with some of the other reviewers who pointed out the high price. Until they release a paperback version for less money, I would recommend borrowing the book instead. I disagree with the reviewers who felt the story was "corporate propaganda". One of the points made in the story, is that when the cheese begins to look moldy, be prepared to abandon it for better cheese. I took this to mean you should consider heading down the maze to look for a better "cheese station". The parable teaches that you must see yourself in control of your situation, blaming others only gives you an excuse to remain lazy.
Rating: Summary: Ways to Make Change Work for You, Not Against! Review: As an author and seminar trainer for the last 20 years on life strategies, I know that nothing creates change in people as much as a story, especially one entwined with self-help concepts. Spencer Johnson's simple book is filled with important advice that not only can be used in the workplace, but in everyone's personal life as well. "Who Stole My Cheese," shows you how to think differently and to accept change and problems as inevitable... that all your obstacles are gifts for new growth and beginnings. This book is necessary and important for everyone in our ever-changing world.
Rating: Summary: Ok, I guess..... Review: This is an ok book, but I kept waiting to find out what type of cheese Spence likes to eat. I wanted to find out and then why someone would want to take another mans cheese? I know that I like Gouda. It tastes great and leaves no greasy after stains. Anyway if you need help for life et. al. This book attempts to show you how. Still needs more about cheese.
Rating: Summary: Easy to read Review: I think the story is quite simple and yet it means a lot ofthings. It encourages people to overcome fear and achieve their goals.
Rating: Summary: A new low for the business world... Review: This book has the most condecending and insulting message of any of the new religion in the business world books. It's an "us verses they" message that is conveyed in this book and only serves to further erode the morale of employees in the workplace. My office purchased 200 copies of this book and distributed them to each employee. We had meetings and discussions about this book and it's "insights" just prior to another reorganization. In essence they were telling us to keep our mouth shut and go with the flow, or get out.
Rating: Summary: Who Moved My Cheese? Review: I LOVED this book. I originally bought it to get some insight on my relationship issues, but as I read I realized that the "cheese" could be ANYTHING I needed it to be (relationship, work, ministry. . .). This parable really helped me to get focused - not focused on what I had loss but all the WONDERFUL Cheese I still have to gain! :-)
Rating: Summary: Obvious Review: It is hard to face changes and this book makes the reading about it very easy. The style is one of its strenghts. But then the obvious comes too often and you may soon find out that you are reading what you already know. And you may be pretty right.
Rating: Summary: not even entertaining propaganda Review: I can enjoy entertaining propaganda as well as the next guy, but this was weak stuff. Sure, "change can be good" and sometimes we worry too much, as the book preaches ("you will see that the two mice do better when they are faced with change because they keep things simple, while the two little-people's complex brains and human emotions complicate things")But the book -- which pitches itself as something companies should have their employees read -- goes the extra mile in case you miss their real point: when you're treated unfairly, especially at work, don't complain, just move on without raising a ruckus. In the book's "discussions" section -- suposedly discussions among readers applying the book's life lessons -- they explicitly drive this point home with this and other dialogue: "I had a rough encounter with change.... The truth is, I didn't want to deal with ... [a]n unexpected change of jobs...." "You were fired?" "Well, let's just say I didn't want to go out looking for New Cheese. I thought I had a pretty good reason why change shouldn't happen to me. So I was pretty upset at the time." The book's target consumer isn't the individual reader, but the large company that wants to teach its employees to deal with workplace problems like the character who scurried away in search of new "opportunities" (the character was named "scurry" -- subtle they ain't), not like the character who "put his hands on his hips, his face turned red, and he screamed at the top of his voice, "It's not fair!'" I highly recommend this book to corporate HR officials who want to send the message that they disdain complainers, so employees with workplace problems had better deal with it or scurry on to a new job. For everyone else, go buy "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" if you're looking for a fun, useful book with clever life lessons.
Rating: Summary: Positive Impact On View of Life Review: While others are slamming this book (must be "Hems") -- I cannot get the basic principles of this book out of my mind or my approach to life. A lot of the concepts put forth by the authors I have seen before in various leadership and psychology courses. What these authors do that is different is take all of these concepts and put them together in a challenging, yet easy to digest and apply, nutshell that takes next to no time to read and yet can spur your thinking and the thinking of those around you constantly. Our entire office is reading the book and using it as a springboard for discussion as to where we are heading as an office. We've already made many changes, and we know more are coming. This book has also assisted me with five personal decisions in the last week since I've finished it -- two of which left me angry and frustrated at first about the situations -- but now I have moved on, instead of staying where I was at and demanding that the cheese be there for me. I am looking for new cheese elsewhere and it's not frightening but exciting. A MUST read for this time in the American culture, unless you want your career, your relationships, and your entire life to stagnate!
Rating: Summary: Don't Let the "Cheesiness" Fool You Review: Sometimes common sense isn't commonly practiced. If it was, we would all eat right and exercise three times a week without prompting. Who Moved My Cheese is a good reminder of some of those simple things we know about responding to change. The book takes a simplistic look at how four personality types respond to change and the consequences of those decisions. Many, if not most frontline workers will like the simplistic approach. The analytical MBA types may dismiss the book for lacking substance. But with information overload, many people do not want a graduate level course on change management. For that we can refer to authors like John Kotter. But when 50,000 people a week are buying the book, it obviously must be saying something that people want to hear. The book addresses only how an individual should respond to change on a personal basis. It doesn't really talk about the "mover of the cheese," i.e. the person responsible for implementing change and leading individuals through change. All that many people need is to be reminded of the common things that most of us know and either forget, or forget to apply. Who Moved My Cheese is an entertaining reminder for those people. Cheese Movers who are responsible for leading others through change will probably want to supplement this book with those by Kotter or other authors like Jim Collins.
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