The story of Who Moved My Cheese? was created by Dr. Spencer Johnson to help him deal with a difficult change in his life. It showed him how to take his changing situation seriously but not take himself so seriously.
Spencer Johnson, M.D.,is an international bestselling author whose books help millions of people discover simple truths they can use to have healthier lives with more success and less stress.
It is the amusing and enlightening story of four imaginary characters-the mice: "Sniff" and "Scurry" and the Littlepeople: "Hem" and "Haw" who live in a maze and always look for cheese to nourish and make them happy. The Cheese is a metaphor for what you want in life, like good job, lovely relationship, money, health and peace of mind. The maze is like a organisation where you work, your family and community you live in. And last Cheese is the satisfaction and your desires, which keeps on moving and changing. Each of us has our own idea of what cheese is and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy. If we get it, we often become attached to it. And if we lose it, or it's taken away, it can be traumatic. The whole story revolves around these elements but carries a deep message to the reader of the book.
The reader always introspect himself/herself while reading the book. How do we react to the particular situation of life. Sometimes we may act like Sniff, who sniffs out change early or Scurry, who scurries into action, or Hem who denies and resist change as he fears it will lead to something worse, or Haw who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better!
Whatever parts of us we choose to use, we all share something in common: a need to find our way in the Maze and succeed in changing times.
The book provides the real-life examples from the renowned personalities, for whom the story of cheese is like life changing experience.
The book is evolved in three sections, In the first, A Gathering, former classmates talk at a class reunion about trying to deal with changes happening in their lives.
The second section is The story of Who Moved My Cheese?, which is core of the book. In the story you will see the two mice do better when they are faced with change because they keep things simple, while the two Littlepeople's complex brains and human emotions complicate things.It has not that mice are smarter. We all know people are more intelligent than mice.
However,as you watch what the four characters do, and realize both the mice and the littlepeople represent parts of ourselves-the simple and the complex-you can see it would be to our advantage to do the simple things that work when things change.
In the third section, A Discussion, people discuss what the The Story meant to them and how they are going to use it in their work and in their lives.
Everyone knows that not all change is good or even necessary. But in a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better.
