Who moved my cheese?
Who Moved My Cheese?
By Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street NY 10014
Manuel Vasquez (Book Summary) The story involves four characters who live in a maze: the mice Scurry and Sniff, and two 'little people', Hem and Haw. All is going well because they have found a huge source of their favorite food, cheese. Hem and Haw have even moved their houses to be near it and it has becomes the center of their lives. But they do not notice that it is getting smaller, and are devastated when they arrive at the site one morning and find the cheese is gone. The mice, Sniff and Scurry possessed simple rodent brains but good instincts searched for the hard nibbling cheese they liked. In contrast, the two little people Hem and Haw, used brains filled with many believes and emotions to search for a different kind of cheese which they believed would make them feel happy and successful. This is where the story splits in two. Scurry and Sniff quickly accept the loss of the cheese and go off into the maze in search of other sources. The little people, because they have built their lives around the big cheese, feel they are the victim of some kind of fraud or theft. Yet this only makes things worse, as their clinging on ensures that they go hungry. Meanwhile, the mice move on and find new cheese. The author uses two little animals and to little people to represent the complexity of the human decision making process, the two mice do better when are faced with changes because they keep things simple. In the other hand, the two little people`s complex brains and human emotions complicate things. In the story cheese is a metaphor for what we want in life, whether is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace, or even an activity like jogging or golf. The maze represents the place where you spend time looking for what you want. It could be the organization you work in, the community you live in, or the
By Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street NY 10014
Manuel Vasquez (Book Summary) The story involves four characters who live in a maze: the mice Scurry and Sniff, and two 'little people', Hem and Haw. All is going well because they have found a huge source of their favorite food, cheese. Hem and Haw have even moved their houses to be near it and it has becomes the center of their lives. But they do not notice that it is getting smaller, and are devastated when they arrive at the site one morning and find the cheese is gone. The mice, Sniff and Scurry possessed simple rodent brains but good instincts searched for the hard nibbling cheese they liked. In contrast, the two little people Hem and Haw, used brains filled with many believes and emotions to search for a different kind of cheese which they believed would make them feel happy and successful. This is where the story splits in two. Scurry and Sniff quickly accept the loss of the cheese and go off into the maze in search of other sources. The little people, because they have built their lives around the big cheese, feel they are the victim of some kind of fraud or theft. Yet this only makes things worse, as their clinging on ensures that they go hungry. Meanwhile, the mice move on and find new cheese. The author uses two little animals and to little people to represent the complexity of the human decision making process, the two mice do better when are faced with changes because they keep things simple. In the other hand, the two little people`s complex brains and human emotions complicate things. In the story cheese is a metaphor for what we want in life, whether is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace, or even an activity like jogging or golf. The maze represents the place where you spend time looking for what you want. It could be the organization you work in, the community you live in, or the