A book review of "Who Moved My Cheese?"

The unbelievably large number of people who think this is a good book is very scary. I hope these people are not important decision makers. Everything bad that can be said about this book has been said before, so I'll just compile a "Best of Amazon Reviewers" list.

(By the way, in case you're wondering, "Dr." Johnson's degree is in education.)

Regarding management and corporate American in general:
* This book is the cop-out for managers who believe in change for change's sake.
* It's corporate brainwashing of the kind that science fiction writers have been warning us about for decades.
* Never have I come closer to the mind crushing monotony and impersonality of corporate America than when I read this book.
* No, change is not a good thing when it happens on a regular basis. That means upper management can't make up their minds.
* If you are thinking about buying this book, I assume you are a manager of some type.

Regarding the intellectual level of the book:
* I have never felt my intelligence more insulted than when reading this.
* It's patronizing, shallow, insipid, and still manages to be patently insulting to those employees who might actually be capable of analytical thought. That's quite a feat.
* Should appeal to the intellectually challenged only.
* It is a sad comment on our culture, society, and educational system that so many people have found this inane drivel to be "life-changing."
* It should appeal to those with an IQ of 68 or less.
* Distilling these important matters into the inane parable of mice in a maze is a literary device meant for grade school students.
* The book provides excellent reading for absolute imbeciles or people high on drugs.

Regarding the message of the book:
* It teaches that you must not struggle. Succumb to the will of the greater power of management, and accept change without regard to whether it is appropriate or not.
* Don't think, just go with the changes as we prescribe them. If you don't, you're inflexible or afraid of change.
* The ideas in this book could have been expressed in a paragraph and even then they would not have been worth the time to read them.

The people who more productively decided just to make jokes about the stupidity that is this book said:
* As I was already familiar with the concept of reality and how to deal with it, the book was not particularly helpful. (my personal favorite)
* Your time would be better spent just taking a nap.
* Buy real cheese. Don't buy this sorry excuse for a book.
* I think people like it cause it can be read and finished while sitting on the toilet.
* Resistance is futile!
* Any manager who would try to force these ideas on their employees would be better off just spiking the coffee with anti-depressants.
* The South Park gang would find it too puerile.

Book Burning

I’m not normally the kind of person who would ever advocate book banning. But I’ve decided to make an exception for some of the “business” books being inflicted on unsuspecting employees lately, most notably by Ken Blanchard.

Of course, the first book to go on the pyre would have to be the most well-known "management by idiots" book Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life followed closely by …

The One Minute Manager
Putting the One Minute Manager to Work
The On-Time, On-Target Manager : How a "Last-Minute Manager" Conquered Procrastination
The One Minute Manager Balances Work and Life (One Minute Manager Library)
The One Minute Apology : A Powerful Way to Make Things Better
The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams (revised Edition) (One Minute Manager Library)
Leadership and the One Minute Manager : Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership
Self-Leadership and the One Minute Manager : Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self-Leadership

and finally The One Minute Manager Meets The Monkey where the idiotic “One Minute Manager” concept meets the even more idiotic “Monkey On Your Back” concept from Managing Management Time by William Oncken.

Krispy Kreme

Struggling doughnut shop chain Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) on Monday reported an unexpected quarterly loss, hurt by store closing costs and sluggish sales, and its stock fell 15.5%. The company, which is facing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into how it accounts for repurchased franchises, also withdrew its forecast calling for systemwide sales to rise 15 percent for its fiscal year, which ends in January. The quarterly loss is the latest in a string of troubles for Krispy Kreme that began in May, when it posted its first quarterly loss since going public and cut the number of planned new stores, blaming the low-carb diet craze for curbing appetite for doughnuts. Some investors have also suggested the company expanded too quickly and the one-time darling of Wall-Street has lost 80% of its market value since its peak in August 2003. [Source: FoxNews]

Here's my question: Who are the idiots on Wall Street who valued Krispy Kreme at $2.577 billion?

Sears and Kmart are merging

Kmart and Sears are merging in an $11 billion deal that will create the nation's third largest retailer, after Wal-Mart and Target. The company being created in the merger announced today would be known as Sears Holdings Corporation, but it will continue to operate Kmart and Sears stores under their current brand names. The combined company is expected to have $55 billion in annual revenues, 2350 full-line and off-mall stores plus 1100 specialty retail stores. The new company will be headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates where Sears is based, but it says it will maintain a "significant presence" in Troy, Michigan, which is home to Kmart.

The man behind this deal is Edward Lampert, Chairman of Kmart Holding Corporation. As a major debt-holder in Kmart, he eventually ended up with a 55% stake in Kmart after it emerged from bankruptcy protection last year. His investment company also holds a 15% stake in Sears.

Delta Pilots Approve Deal

Delta Air Lines pilots approved a new five-year contract that includes a 32.5% pay cut, fewer benefits, longer working hours, and additional job losses. With the pay cuts, Delta pilots will drop from the highest paid in the industry to the middle of the pack. For example, a first year pilot's pay will drop from $50,400 to $34,020, and a veteran pilot's pay will drop from $275,000 to $185,000. The pilots agreed to pay more for their health insurance and to allow the company to freeze their traditional defined-benefit pension plan and replace it with a 401(k) plan. In return for these concessions, pilots will be given options on 30 million shares plus future profit sharing and other incentives.