User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
SPOILER ALERT! I am going to save anyone who thinks they need to read this book time & money by summarizing the entire book in the next two sentences: Things change. Learn to adapt.
You're welcome.
If you still feel the need to spend money please contact me & I will tell you where to send it.
Rating: really liked it
You can read this book in about 45 minutes, but it will feel like a week. I think that I would have enjoyed the Spanish version better. I don't speak Spanish.
I don't know whether the authors of this book have an employer, but if they do, I would recommend a "random" drug test.
This book is about a team of two mice and a team of two minature exectives who each slide into a pair of size 0.005 sneakers and run through a maze in search of cheese. All goes well--until somebody moved the cheese! Chaos then (predictably if not hilariously) ensues. And that is the intelligent part of the book...
For the remainder of the book, we get to listen in on a group of friends discuss how the philosophy behind this epic tale of missing cheese relates to their lives. The members of this discussion group are the type of people for whom warning labels are placed on hot coffee cups. If this half-assed tale of relocated dairy food has any relevance to your life, then there is any number of medications that you should consider asking your doctor about.
Rating: really liked it
This is a book about victimized lower and middle class mice trapped in a corporate capitalist maze, forced by The Man to scurry around, looking for "The Cheese" (salary, 401K, maybe even decent PPO or HMO). Then The Man (maybe Boeing, maybe American Airlines, maybe Monsanto--whoever) MOVES THE CHEESE because it interferes with his quarterly earnings reports or THE CHEESE will be more cost effective if it is shipped to China or Rwanda where labor is cheaper. So what are the mice supposed to do? Are they supposed to unionize, or protest the WTO, or elect people who will enforce antitrust laws in this country! oh, Nooooo! They are supposed to change directions and start running around looking for THE CHEESE in some other part of the maze. Inferior quality CHEESE, no doubt--maybe more of a PROCESSED CHEESE FOOD, without the employer-matched 401K, sans health insurance. Scurry, scurry, little mice! Find your CHEESE before Wall Street and NASDAQ move it again! They are pretty quick to move THE CHEESE and they don't care if you starve!
That is why this book is horrid.
But I'm not bitter.
Rating: really liked it
Who Moved My Cheese?, Spencer Johnson Allegorically, Who Moved My Cheese? features four characters: two mice, "Sniff" and "Scurry," and two Littlepeople, human metaphor, "Hem" and "Haw." (The names of the Littlepeople are taken from the phrase "hem and haw," a term for indecisiveness.)
They live in a maze, a representation of one's environment, and look for cheese, representative of happiness and success.
Initially without cheese, each group, the mice and humans, paired off and traveled the lengthy corridors searching for cheese. One day both groups happen upon a cheese-filled corridor at "Cheese Station C." Content with their find, the humans establish routines around their daily intake of cheese, slowly becoming arrogant in the process.
One day Sniff and Scurry arrive at "Cheese Station C" to find no cheese left, but they are not surprised.
Noticing the cheese supply dwindling, they have mentally prepared beforehand for the arduous but inevitable task of finding more cheese. Leaving "Cheese Station C" behind, they begin their hunt for new cheese together.
Later that day, Hem and Haw arrive at Cheese Station C only to find the same thing, no cheese. Angered and annoyed, Hem demands, "Who moved my cheese?" The humans have counted on the cheese supply to be constant, and so are unprepared for this eventuality. After deciding that the cheese is indeed gone they get angry at the unfairness of the situation. Haw suggests a search for new cheese, but Hem is dead-set in his disappointment and dismisses the proposal. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز پانزدهم ماه فوریه سال 2010میلادی
عنوان: چه کسی پنیر مرا جابجا کرد؛ نویسنده: اسپنسر جانسون؛ مترجم: شمسی بهبهانی؛ تهران، نشر اختران؛
بسیاری این کتاب را با عنوانهای گوناگون ترجمه کرده اند
موشها «اسنیف» و «اسکوری»؛ و آدم کوچولوها «هم» و «ها»؛ این چهار شخصیت، برای نشان دادن سادگی و پیچیدگی درون آدمها، بدون در نظر گرفتن «سن»، «جنس»، «نژاد»یا «ملیت» هستند؛ همگی گاهی همچو «اسنیف» عمل میکنیم، کسانی که تغییرات را زود بو میکشند؛ یا همچون «اسکوری» به سرعت وارد عمل میشویم؛ گاه همانند «هم» میشویم، که با انکار تغییرات رودرروی آنها میایستیم، چرا که میترسیم به سمت چیزی بدتر کشیده شویم؛ یا همچون «ها»، که یاد میگیرد وقتی شرایط او را به سمت چیزی بهتر راهنمایی میکند، خود را با آن هماهنگ کند
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 29/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 27/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Rating: really liked it
It requires a unique sort of demonic skill to take the utterly obvious, lather it with sentimentality, turn it into an animal story, give it a big font and wide margins so that what really ought to be a pamphlet handed out for free on subways becomes instead a "book," and then expect businesspeople to buy it.
Which they did. God help us all.
Rating: really liked it
For years I have managed to avoid reading the popular book Who Moved My Cheese? However, it was recently recommended to me because I mentioned that I'm not especially enthusiastic about change.
I wish I could un-read this book. I thought it was overly simplistic and rather insulting to any intelligent person. This book contains such clever little proverbs as "He was happy when he wasn't being run by his fears" (in other words, just stop being afraid, and you'll be happy). Ok, good, I'll try that if my car breaks down on a dark deserted highway, or next time my father complains of chest pains. Sometimes you're not supposed to be happy. Sometimes you're supposed to stay alert and guarded, and be ready for action.
The question I wish the author had addressed (instead of coming up with platitudes in praise of change) is this: What is the balance between working to improve what you have (repairing) vs. looking for something new (replacing)?
Adaptation and flexibility are all well and good, but sometimes life is a little too complicated to be resolved just by embracing change. After all, as authors Kathleen and William Lundin said in one of their books "Adapting to a wild leader is like being the fox in a blood-sport hunt. You may be quick, clever, and nimble, but you'll still be killed at the end of the game."
Rating: really liked it
Silly little self promoting book. First third is a bunch of people sitting around talking about this new silver-bullet omniscient business book that changed their lives.
Middle third is this fairy tale that I can sum up in five (5) words: SHIT HAPPENS, GET OVER IT.
And finally the most insulting part is the last third where that group of high-potential future cult followers reassembles and discusses this epiphany of a book that they have read and they all agree to buy copies for all of their friends and coworkers - as I recall, one guy was going to buy cases of the book for his whole dept at work. Of course the last page is the coup de grais - an order form for more books!
Oh pooh, now I have gone and done what Johnson did - gone and wasted a whole lot of words when those 5 in caps above would have sufficed nicely.
Rating: really liked it
Change or get run over !
A great many people have recommended this particular one to me; I did not read.
We might be the most evolved species on the planet but sometimes we do over-process. Adapting and forecasting change lurking around the corner is mark of sheer greatness.
The best quote perhaps was curbing the wrong interpretations that might be drawn out : that you should try behaving in a new way in the same relationship. Do not change the person but innovate your habits. If you love your partner, let them know about it in a million different ways that change everyday.
Novelty is what keeps things moving.
The story is perfectly written and takes up one hour of your life but may just give you a knowledge of a lifetime. I can see these terms being recited to people in the company I work or the football teams I lead.
And I quote,
"Keep moving whilst riding a bicycle. Else you fall down."
Keep your senses sharp. Sniff the changes and scurry to action.
And of course, Be Worldclass like the very book itself.
Verdict : Spencer Johnson hits the bulls-eye in a 60 minute book.
Rating: really liked it
Dear Mr. Christ,
I was at that meeting you held the other day up on the hill - I guess you wouldn't remember me, I was at the back of the crowd. Anyway, I really liked it. I gotta admit, some of it kind of went over my head, but it was a great speech. I particularly liked the part with blessed are the cheesemakers, I thought that was inspired. Most people never think about cheese, but I think about it all the time.
Well, like I said, some of it was hard to get, but I talked about it afterwards with my friend Brian and he explained it to me. Then I liked it even more! Yeah, that is a very cool message about living in the moment and not overthinking things. You have something there. But then I said to myself, what is this guy missing? And the answer came to me clear as clear: cheese. Just one single mention, and do you know, Brian couldn't even remember that bit.
So, I hope you won't find this presumptuous or anything, but I wrote a longer version, playing up the cheese and making it more, you know, business-friendly. I've attached a PDF and I'd love to know what you think!
Best wishes,
Spencer
Dear Spencer,
I wouldn't have used as many words, but I very much appreciated the Parable of the Cheese. I look forward to seeing you again.
Your friend,
Jesus
Rating: really liked it
When my boss first gave me this book to read, I was definately in place where I had no interest in even knowing what my attitude was towards change. After taking an hour to read the book, I found it to be ridiculous and that it didn't apply to me at all -- "I had always been an advocate for change, what the hell was my boss trying to tell me?"
After going through some difficult times at work with restructure and having to change peoples' roles and responsibilities, I decided to re-read the story about 2 men and 2 mice and what their outlook on change was. To my surprise, because I was actually looking for help with regards to moving my people forward and helping adjust to the changes that were happening around them, I found the book to be more than helpful. I recognized that for the longest time, I was pretty closed minded and was definately going to die with the cheese if I didn't start embracing change and the outcomes it brings. I also recognized that I had a sniff, a scurry, a hem and lots of haws running around my team. With that knowledge, it helped me focus on how to manage them better which delivered better results from them and also made them happier employees.
Rating: really liked it
Way too cheesy (I couldn't resist). While this was probably revolutionary at some point to some people... for me this one did nothing. It's like self-help for middle-graders.
Basically, we've got ourselves a cheesebuster story, about Mice and Men (maybe Of Mice and Men was the original inspiration to compose this pamphlet?) that live in a labyrinth, finding lots of freedom and Cheese in it. Ughhh...
Q:
But Cheese never reappeared. (c)
Q:
It's maze time! (c)
Q:
Why don't you just wait here with me until they put the Cheese back? (c)
Q:
Why didn't I get up and move with the Cheese sooner? (c)
Q:
The Quicker you let go of old Cheese. The sooner you find new Cheese. (c)
Q:
Perhaps most important of all, he realized that there is always New Cheese out there whether you recognize it at the time or not. And that you are rewarded with it when you go past your fear and enjoy the adventure. (c)
Rating: really liked it
This is a book about how two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two miniature humans named Hem and Haw (that's right) are trapped in a maze that serves as a metaphor for the inherent restrictions and viccisitudes of our lives. One day some invisible force beyond their control takes the cheese from a sector of the maze, sending our mice and little people looking for more, if, indeed there is anymore to be had. Sniff and Scurry, we are told, have the right attitude because "they keep life simple...they don't overanalyze or overcomplicate things," and rather than question why the cheese was taken from them they accept change and just get out there and bust their balls humping it through that maze like good little unquestioning furry mini-zombies looking for more. Hem and Haw, like too many humans, we are told, over-think things and fixate on their past comforts and expectations and spend too much time stewing over the unfairness of their loss of food rather than fearlessly getting out there and looking through the maze for more.
So, who moved/stole their cheese? That question is never answered. Nay, it is, posits this book, a completely unimportant and irrelevant question to ask, because, fellow bitches, the system is how it is, it's gonna stay that way, you can't do a fuckin' thing to change that and it's just too goddamned bad if you don't like it, because your cheese is going to be stolen and sent to South China and that's that. So stop bellyaching about jobs and health care. Just get yourself rich with stinking piles of cheese, or just shut up about it...liberals!
Another key question that is not asked is: "Who designed, built and maintains the maze and whose interests does that serve?"
I have a theory, not addressed in the book, that stinking rich executive-types, most of whom have driven their companies into the ground or into slave-wage zones and sent their employees off to look for "New Cheese" while enjoying their own golden-parachute-financed retirements and/or bailouts, may be among those who have stolen our cheese. But, according to the book, such things are not only outside the realm of questioning, but are irrelevant. The very idea of changing or creating a more equitable system is simply beyond the pale. You won't be the master of your own cheese, suckers, so be happy with what you can get. Those who take the cheese always know better.
In an unexpected turn of events, however, some disgruntled employees at the facility where this book was printed--who had just been told that their cheeses were being moved to Mexico and they would lose their $15-an-hour living-wage jobs to $1-an-hour Mexican slaves--decided to slip an alternative version of this story into some of the copies of the book, some of which turned up on Amazon and the late-lamented Border's.
In this version, Hem and Haw and Sniff and Scurry notice their cheese missing and, after looking for two years for no cheese dispensaries and finding themselves at the end of their 99-weeks of insufficient government-issue unemployment-benefit cheese rations, decide to put Hem and Haw's human smarts and Sniff and Scurry's uncerebral pluck to new uses and ends. Since cheese is the goal, or the ends, and since the ends justify the means, they decide to figure out who is taking their cheese, prevent further cheese-moving shenanigans, and keep those tasty fromage comestibles for themselves. Thinking "outside the maze", they decide that having their cheese taken away arbitrarily--especially by the one-percent who already own more cheese than the other 99 percent of cheese-eaters combined--is not the kind of change they will accept, and instead of being on the receiving end of change decide to mete out a little change of their own--for a change (after all, who says that change always has to come from "above," from outside? Why not from below, from the bottom up? I know, change from the bottom is class warfare; change/cheese moving from the top is, well, the marketplace working like it should). Deciding not to take it anymore, the plucky mice and men donned commando gear, staked out the various points of infiltration, and with their cache of weapons including Molotov cocktails, took out the greedy cheese-hoarding scumbags.
No cheese was stolen thereafter.
But who produced the future cheese? After all, there were no more job exporters...I mean, "job creators." The anarcho-syndicalist collective, of course. And there was cheese for all.
Rating: really liked it
“When you stop being afraid, you feel good." It's about facing change head-on and not allowing fear to hold you back. I'd heard so many excellent things about this book over the years that I wasn't expecting it to be any good. It was, however. The author illustrates with a short story how life can change quickly and how to adjust to those changes. He goes on to explain why it's crucial to anticipate and monitor change in your life.
The author of the story has mentioned that the cheese in the book represents anything a human strives for. It could be money, fame, reputation, happiness, success, achievements, or anything else.
If you have trouble adapting to new situations and fear change you should read it.
You can go for it, if you like.
Rating: really liked it
Reading this reminded me of why I hate pop psych/pop management books. The writing is terrible, the message is oversimplified and the font is gigantic (an effort to pad the book out to 90 pages, I think). And the intro and conclusion are just a marketing ploy to encourage managers to buy lots of copies to give to their employees. This book could be read in 20 minutes, but I'll save you some time and tell you that change will happen in your life, and you have to deal with it. The end.
Rating: really liked it
If you receive this uninspiring, revolting piece of trash from your employer, start looking for another job -- the end is near!
Change is inevitable, but it doesn't mean workers should sit back and accept everything corporate America dishes out.
