Who Did Move My Cheese

I had heard of Dr Spencer Johnson's phenomenon book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' before but I did not know anything about the book's message or plot whatsoever. So when I saw it in the management and business section of my local book shop I just had to buy it and see what all of the 'hype' was about. I pulled the book out of my bag whilst waiting for my girlfriend in a popular fast food restaurant, and started reading the book.

After the praises, about the author, how the book came about and quotes from reviews of the book, there is an introduction to the 4 characters that appear in the book; The mice - Sniff and Scurry and the Littlepeople, Hem and Haw.

The book likens the 4 characters to the simple and complex parts of ourselves in the way that..

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 can lead to something better!

Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D, a co-author of Dr Johnson, then tells ' The story behind the story' followed by a gathering of former classmates in Chicago, where one of the people, Michael, introduces and then tells the story of Who Moved My Cheese?

The basic plot of the story is that the 4 characters are all looking for cheese in a maze. - the cheese being a metaphor for what you want in life ie, a good job, a big house, a relationship etc and the maze is a metaphor for the path you take to obtain your chosen 'cheese'. They find a copious amount of cheese which lasts for a long period of time. During this time the little people take the cheese for granted and the mice do not. So when the inevitable happens and the cheese supply runs out the mice just carry on and find a new supply, whereas the littlepeople have a harder time adapting to the change.

The story focuses around Haw who is slow to react to the change but eventually does, and the story follows Haw's learning curve as he realises that change doesn't always have to be bad. Along the way there are pages that are only filled with a quote in a piece of cheese, these depict when a something is wrote on the wall of the maze for various reasons and acts as a great motivational quote for the reader. - I have purposely not gone into much detail in this section so I do not spoil the story for anybody who may want to read the book.

Once the story has come to an end there is a discussion by the same former classmates in Chicago. I am unsure whether these classmates are fictional of non-fictional but their points and views are extremely insightful as they work out the morals that the story teaches. This discussions hits home the real life situations where the story's message is applicable in every day life.

After I had read the story I could see how the messages from the books could affect my life and my current situation. I intend to use these lessons to advance my career and personal life. The book also explains how change does not necessaries mean to quit and change jobs but to change attitudes and to accept change when its uncontrollable aswell as choosing the correct changes.

I strongly suggest that if you struggle with accepting change or even if you don't and are just interested in how much deeper this book is than just looking for cheese, to buy the book and have a read.

To buy the book on Amazon click here