Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - Lower Your Expectations
A patheticly obvious parable. The mice represent blue collar workers, the 'little people' represent white collar workers burdened down with expecations of progression, contracts and careers. The book's simple message is to accept that your employer can do what the hell they like. That's why it's set in an empty maze where cheese is deposited seemingly at random.

Corporations are presented as all powerful as the scientists (presumably) experimenting on this book's characters. The mice are presented as more adaptable and consequently happier. Tell that to a labourer waiting on a street corner for a boss guy in a truck to drive past and say 'you'll do get in'!

This book is profoundly un-democratic. It's propaganda to make a workforce feel resigned to any fate their CEO hands out. Companies are not mazes, jobs are not collecting cheese. Our working lives are so much more rich and complex. Employers are people and do dumb things. Employees _are_ entitled to explanations and to fair treatment.

Every year individuals and unions sue the pants of business for acting badly. This book pretends that doesn't happen. This book tries to make us feel as alone and hopeless as Hem and Haw. Shame on you Spencer Johnson...

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Rating: - Change to thrive and survive
I read this book in a few minutes whilst waiting for a customer to arrive for an off site meeting.

I started it as a bit of fun and I found a metaphor I have come back to time and time again, when confronted with change issues.

Success means changing - even when you reach your intial goal you need to continue to improve and change.

My advice invest a little time and money in this book and get some big ideas!

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Rating: - Nice tale, but why buy when it's available as a free download?
This is a well thought out, if at times rather twee, analogy for change in life and how to deal with it.
I'm sure the author's company does some excellent workshops & seminars based around it and his other publications, but they don't operate where I live (not in US or UK) so I looked around and was able to download a pdf of the book for free on the interweb.
There are also video and audio downloads as well if you refine your search.
My verdict, a useful teaching tool, especially when used in conjunction with other resources.

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Rating: - They've said it all before ... BUT
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

OK, so all the reviewers have dissected this little book to infinity and beyond. But its very much worth reading, and won't take you long, and might just give you that little push to get out of the rut and take a wider prespective.

Ideal for people who live in prisons and want to break out (metaphorically speaking)

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Rating: - Entertaining Lesson.
A short story about 2 mice and 2 'little people' in a maze looking for cheese.

Of course 'cheese' is just a metaphor for what you want in life (such as money, the ideal job), and the 'maze' represents where you are looking for what you want (such as your family, an organization). As the story goes, one of the characters (Haw) learns to deal with change successfully and writes what he has learned on the maze wall. In this way, the reader gets the main points in the book and can learn too how to deal with life's changes.

A little book that is big on wisdom, many should find it entertaining and useful. Also recommended The Sixty-Second Motivator -another short story that is to the point and practical.