I bought that book in 2003, after hearing all that praise. I have a piece of advice for you: don’t buy it, the book sucks.
While I do not totaly disagree with the advice of that book, the author makes several simplifications and wrong assumptions:
-It assumes that all sortcomings in our life are our own fault, caused by poor planning and lack of foresight.
-It assumes that whenever you go out to “find new cheese”, you will. That is wrong, unless you consider a carrer in flipping burgers as an option.
Actually, I think you missed the point of the book. It isn’t a self-help book for you. It isn’t really about your shortcomings and opportunities. It’s a self-help book for your boss. It helps him feel better about laying you off.
And more importantly, it reduces the likelihood that you’ll sue the company or go on strike or go enitrely postal.
(Yes, I got “cheesed” back in 2001. My company had a merger. It was clear that a large part of my department was on the chopping block. In fact, I had already been chopped, and was serving out my last few weeks. Next thing you know, this book was handed out and a meeting was announced to discuss it–promoted as some kind of a job-skills seminar. An HR goon came around and condescendingly “invited” me to the meeting, saying that she thought the skills that we would be covering would be particularly helpful in my situation. :rolleyes: I attended out of morbid curiosity. And sho’nuff, the whole thing was all about how there was something wrong with you if you were pissed off about being fired. The whole thing was so disgusting. And just to make things even worse, they had put a big platter of cheese chunks on the table.)
I used to work in a bookstore, and could not believe how popular that book was. I say props to the authors for getting people to buy a 75 page hardcover book in 14 point font, double spaced, AND loaded with illustrations of mice and cheese for $24.95. No one ever got poor underestimating the gullibility of the American public.
I used to get frothing-at-the-mouth furious whenever this book was brought up (the company I work for has, apparently, done the “you’re laid off good luck with the cheese” pre-reorg seminar, which I find disturbing to contemplate.) But my passionate hatred has cooled somewhat with time. In case anyone was wondering, the rest of this author’s books are equally dimwitted.
I don’t think this book is profound, but it is damn accurate.
My compant is in an industry that has changed dramatically over the past few years. We have come out with a new product that addresses the changes, and it is phenomically successful, but we have people in the company who won’t support it because it requires a completely different way of doing business. ’
These are people who have been making over $100K for years, but will soon have to be fired for lack of production. They simply refuse to believe that the way they have done business for the last 20 years doesn’t work anymore. Its a damn shame.
This has nothing to do with layoffs, just performance.
It is obvious that none of you comprehended what you read in that book. It’s been awhile but there were two mice and two little people in the book, right? As soon as the cheese moved, the mice ran off through the maze to find new cheese while the two dudes sat there bitching and moaning and waiting for more cheese to appear. There are some people who anticipate change and deal with it while there are others who ignore signs of pending change as long as posible, hope the change doesn’t effect them when it comes and then bitch about the change when it does effect them.
Well guess who you guys are (except you Lamar Mundane…you seem to get it)?
The book assumes nothing of the sort. It assumes that if you are out of “cheese” you had better figure out where to get more or you might as well just go crawl in a hole and die. You don’t consider burger flipping an option. Do you consider living on the street an option? Do you consider not eating an option? You may never find new cheese, but at least it won’t be for lack of trying.
People get laid off. It sucks. Shit happens. The point of the book is not that you should feel good about it or that things will be alright. In fact, it’s the opposite. The point is that no matter how much you liked your job or your salary or how afraid you are of starting a new career or how hard you worked to get where you are, it’s now over. It’s time to move on.
The only flaw in the book is it’s length. I could sum it up in one sentence “get off your ass and go do whatever you have to so you can pay the bills.”
And yet, idiots are willing to pay $25 to get this message, or go on a public message board and flame the folks who think this childishly worthless tripe is a big steaming pile of “thanks for nothing.”
[QUOTE=msmith537The only flaw in the book is it’s length. I could sum it up in one sentence “get off your ass and go do whatever you have to so you can pay the bills.”[/QUOTE]
You know, I would find it pretty goddam insane if I was working some job for several years, only to be laid off, and then find that my boss spent $20 to buy a book to tell me that, except with little cartoons of mice interspersed within. I mean, I’ve been a good worker, and they just need to save a little money, and so, therefore, sorry, but don’t bother coming here tomorrow, and if you have any complaints, here’s a book about how to deal with change. Severance pay? Why do you need that? This book will tell you how to deal with change.
I don’t know, but every time I’ve looked at the book, it seems that “change” is just a code word for “geting laid off because the higher-ups that deserve it want to deflect blame.” Basically, a book that tries to tell someone like me why I shouldn’t be pissed that my CEO needs to downsize something other than his $8,000 shower curtains. Oh, yeah, it’s just that my cheese got moved. No goddam problem.
Economic layoffs are about more than saving a little money. Yeah, it sucks to be laid off and it seems random at times but the objective is to keep the company profitiable so that everyone else can keep their jobs. I have a client who I am helping select suppliers for various materials. They are such a big company that many of the suppliers who lose the business may have to lay people off. Do I lose any sleep over that? No. My client is paying me to help them save money so that they don’t have to have layoffs of their own (since they are having their own financial issues). Sure it would be nice to save everyones job on the planet, but that’s not going to happen. For most people it’s not a death sentence (literally or figuratively) anyhow. It’s a big inconvienience but most people find other work. Hey, I didn’t want to get laid off from my job with a Big-5 consulting firm to come work for some dip-shit dot-com lately that thinks it’s 1997. But they are paying me so I deal with it until I find something better.
Anyhow, I’m getting off topic here. The book isn’t saying that you have to like losing your job. It doens’t even say that you can’t bitch about it. All it is saying that when stuff like that happens that is out of your control, whether it’s due to economics, a freakin meteor or space aliens stealing the corporate office, you need to face facts and act accordingly. I think it is good sensible advice.
Besides, the book isn’t a guide to firing people. Management types read it because they have to deal with organizational changes that most workers bees don’t experience.
