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Who moved my cheese? by Spencer Johnson – my review

This is a short fable about the unexpected changes that we have to face in our lives. It takes less than an hour to read, and I decided to do it because it was praised by self-help gurus and various famous people and managers. I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

It’s about four characters (two mice and two little people) who live in a maze (a metaphor for one’s life/job/organization/community etc.) and are forced to look for the cheese (a metaphor for what you want in life – a good job/relationship/money/health etc.) when it suddenly disappears. Each of the characters has a different way of dealing with this situation, two of them diametrically opposed – one completely refuses to accept it and to adapt, while another one ventures out on his own and eventually finds new cheese, pausing to write on the walls what he has learned along the way, hoping that this will help the others.

Here is an interesting quote: He knew that when you change what you believe, you change what you do. You can believe that a change will harm you and resist it. Or you can believe that finding New Cheese will help you and embrace the change. It all depends on what you choose to believe.

Some people love this book, others think it’s just another example of motivational jibberish or just suitable for children.

The core idea is a common sense one: that things change and you need to anticipate this and learn to adapt. In order to do that, it is best to keep your eyes open and understand the signals you receive from people and situations as time goes by, so that change doesn’t catch you unawares. When your world starts to crumble, change your perspective, challenge old beliefs (that will get you nowhere) and don’t be run by fear. But I don’t think that you need someone to teach you this...
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