Out of the Maze: Book Review

Author: Spencer Johnson
Subtitle: An A-mazing Way to Get Unstuck
Publisher: Portfolio, 2018
Length: 96 pages

Goodreads description:

The posthumous sequel to Who Moved My Cheese?, the classic parable that became a worldwide sensation.

Who Moved My Cheese? offered millions of readers relief for an evergreen problem: unanticipated and unwelcome change. Now its long-awaited sequel digs deeper, to show how readers can adapt their beliefs and achieve better results in any field.

Johnson's theme is that all of our accomplishments are due to our beliefs: whether we're confident or insecure, cynical or positive, open-minded or inflexible. But it's difficult to change your beliefs--and with them, your outcomes. Find out how Hem, Haw, and the other characters from Who Moved My Cheese? deal with this challenge.

 My Review:

I really enjoyed Who Moved My Cheese? (as evidenced by the fact that I own two copies!) So I was curious to see what the author would have to say in this sequel. What had become of Hem, the Littleperson who refused to move on when the Cheese stopped coming? 

Out of the Maze tells Hem's story. As his story begins, Hem is alone, he's angry, and he's very, very hungry. He realizes that if he doesn't find Cheese, things are not going to end well. As much as he hates to admit it, he has to move on and try to find a new source of Cheese. Proceeding through the maze, Hem meets Hope and the two journey together, Hope offering encouragement as Hem begins to learn new ways of thinking. 

Johnson is a master at writing simple fables that capture big ideas and inspire readers. In Who Moved My Cheese? he helped people understand that change is inevitable and that accepting change with a positive attitude is the key to moving forward and being successful. In Out of the Maze his goal is to show us that some beliefs hold us back while others help us move forward. If we are stuck, we need to consider whether or not our current assumptions are true and beneficial. If our thoughts are preventing us from achieving our goals, we need to replace them with new thoughts. New thoughts lead to new actions and new actions lead us to new places, including, hopefully, the place we want to end up.

Since I am needing to get unstuck in terms of my writing habits, I found this little book very timely. I still need to do some thinking about the beliefs I've been holding dear and contemplate what beliefs can replace them. Have you engaged in this type of metacognition? What were the results?

My Rating 4 out of 5 stars