If you want to understand success, this is a great place to start. Also, as with any Gladwell book, you’ll learn a great deal of interesting facts and tidbits of information about everything from aerodynamics to hockey along the way.

As I began reading “Who Moved My Cheese,” I kept reminding myself to slow down, so as to savor every word and contemplate every thought. Nevertheless, before I knew it, I had finished the book and without pause I did something I haven’t done in a very long time: I re-read it from cover to cover. Upon my second reading, it became clear that the message Dr. Johnson is teaching us relates more with life in general, rather than only with the world of business. In life, “cheese” comes in all varieties, just like the kind of cheese we eat. Some “cheese” may have a strong odor and it takes courage just to try it. Other cheeses are not complete, in that they are filled with many holes. Yet other cheeses get better with age, but to the uninformed, their outward appearance gives the impression that they have spoiled. I could go on and on with the cheese analogy, but the point should be clear; the changes we make in life are not always easy. Some changes involve risk, some seem like they’ll never work and yet others are misleading at first glance. What Dr. Johnson tells us is that rather than whine over the specific “cheese” that we’ve been dealt, let’s go out and find the cheese we want.

Finding the cheese is not always easy, because we don’t always know what we want. Because of this, many people take the easy way out and stumble through life while forgetting the fact that we are in control of our own successes and failures. What it comes down to is fear, and as the book points out, we must conquer this fear and take calculated risks at times, or else the “risk” we take by doing nothing is certain failure. As Dr. Johnson put it, “It is safer to search in the maze than remain in a cheeseless situation.” We don’t like to search, because that means hard work, getting lost, asking for help and learning from our mistakes. However, all of these things are necessary if we ever wish to be successful in life or in business.

After having considered all of this, what amazes me is that I never thought about such complex concepts in such simple terms prior to reading “Who Moved My Cheese?” A truly great teacher is someone who can take a complex subject and simplify it while improving on the basic message. Combine that skill with the ability to motivate and captivate the reader and the end result is Spencer Johnson. His compact book will go down in history as a terrific gem built around sound advice that works for all of us.

So now that I understand the dynamics of change, I plan on incorporating them into my own life. Whenever I find myself cruising through life hemming and hawing about one thing or another, I’ll remind myself that success does not come easy, nor does it stay in one place for long. For example, the strategies and knowledge I have acquired thus far in my college education may help me find a job, but a degree does not guarantee I’ll keep it. On the other hand, if I commit myself to being a lifelong learner, I can anticipate change by staying alert and then adapt almost effortlessly to the new environment. In this respect, change is welcomed when it is understood. For with change comes the adventure of moving confidently into a fresh chapter of life with new challenges and new rewards. Moreover, successful change brings the satisfaction of knowing that we’ve not only improved our own standing, but have also made the world a better place, by proving that virtually anything is possible with the right formula for success.

Works Cited

Johnson, Spencer. Who Moved My Cheese? New York: Putnam, 1998.

The Internet has impacted our lives in more ways than we can describe and yet we seldom know the names and faces behind the brands, products and services that made it all possible. Everyday, we check our email, buy gifts, track stock prices, read news articles and watch videos all thanks to a relatively few number of individuals who took the first leap into an unknown and unproven abyss. One of those individuals was a 30 year-old Harvard MBA who revolutionized the world of retail and in doing so became one of the first Internet billionaires. His name is Jeff Bezos and his company is Amazon.com. This is Jeff’s story, which chronicles his amazing path to fame and fortune as the founder of Amazon.com.

Born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jeffery Preston Bezos showed an amazing aptitude for math and science from a very young age. Jeff’s mother realized this one day when she found her son trying to dismantle his crib with a screwdriver because he wished to sleep in a “grown-up bed.” Jeff was only three years old at the time (Garty 14). This ever-present sense of curiosity followed Jeff throughout his entire life. He excelled in school and was often fascinated by mechanical objects and puzzles. One of his favorite toys at school was a motorized cube which contained moving mirrors. This “infinity cube” kept Jeff busy for hours as he figured out how it worked. Eventually he bought his own mirrors and constructed his own motor so that he could have his very own infinity cube at home (Spector 3).

Jeff and his family moved several times during his younger years. In 1982, the family settled in Florida and Jeff attended Palmetto High School in Miami. He excelled in all subjects and received numerous awards, including the Best Science Student Award, Best Math Student Award, the Miami Herald Silver Knight Science Award and a trip to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. This last prize was a result of writing a winning paper titled, “The Effect of Zero Gravity on the Aging Rate of the Common Housefly” (Byers 18). When Jeff graduated from high school as Valedictorian in 1982, he was at the very top of his class, which consisted of 680 students. Everyone around him sensed that he would go on to accomplish great things in life.

Following high school, Jeff attended Princeton University where he graduated in 1986 with a 4.2 average and a degree in Computer Science (Byers 21). Now his opportunities in the world of business and technology were limitless, as almost every leading company wanted him to join their ranks. While working for a large banking company, Jeff eventually earned his MBA from Harvard which added to his already impressive list of credentials. However, he was never completely happy with the prospect of working for someone else, since he always felt somewhat held back. Jeff wanted to be his own boss and live the adventurous life that his mind craved.

In 1994, while working for a Wall Street firm, he was given the perfect opportunity to make that wish a reality. His employer asked him to research potential Internet business opportunities, which were a relatively new concept at the time. Jeff conducted methodical and detailed research and found that Internet usage was increasing by an astonishing rate of 2,300 percent per year.

Jeff immediately knew he was onto something big and he knew now was the best time to take action. Still, Jeff didn’t know how to maximize the business potential of the Internet, since it was such a new concept. He only had a vague idea that it could be used to host an online product catalog with a huge selection of items for sale, but he didn’t know what items would work best. After conducting more research, Jeff found one product that stood out from the rest and seemed perfect for Internet retail. He would open an online bookstore. Books seemed like a perfect choice, since the publishing industry was growing at a great pace, books were easy to stock, easy to ship and there were already three million titles in the market, which added to the variety of what was available to customers. It was time for Jeff to get his plan into action.

Amazon.com was officially incorporated on July 5, 1994. Jeff wanted the name of his company to reflect his vision of creating the largest and most well-stocked store in the world. Therefore, he chose the name of the largest river in the world, which also conveniently starts with the letter “A” thereby placing it near the top of most alphabetical search engine results and directories (Byers 46). To this day, Amazon.com continues to live up to its name, with current revenues of almost $15 billion and an unfathomable assortment of products to choose from.

For Jeff Bezos however, the road to profitability has not been an easy one. Many business professionals claimed that Amazon.com was doomed to fail from the start, because too much money was going out and not enough was coming in. Instead of growing at a slow and steady pace that was tailored to follow profitability, Jeff attempted a risky model of rapid expansion that was meant to corner the market before competitors could take away any business. Jeff knew that Amazon.com had to be the first and most well-known bookseller on the Internet if it ever was to survive. After that, the company could begin to worry about profitability. Jeff and his associates referred to this technique as the “Get Big Fast” model of business and that tagline eventually became an inside mantra of the company. Finally, in the last quarter of 2002, Amazon made its first-ever profit (at a meager penny per share) and has ever since remained profitable.

Jeff based the Amazon.com business philosophy around one primary focus: customer satisfaction. To this day he believes that nothing matters more than making sure the customer is satisfied. Only then will there be repeat business and referrals. For Jeff, this is a vital requirement for success in the world of business. He has accomplished this sense of ultimate satisfaction by tailoring the Amazon.com homepage to the unique interests of each visitor. The website remembers your name, your past purchases, your favorite items and your billing and shipping information. All of this is meant to simulate (or enhance) the experience of visiting a real-world neighborhood bookstore. Coupled with an outstanding team of customer service representatives, this is the successful formula that has driven Amazon.com to profitability.

In closing, Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com both have a lot of life ahead of them. Jeff continues to serve as CEO, president and chairman, with no plans on stepping down any time soon. This is just the beginning and it is certain that Amazon.com will continue to revolutionize new markets with each passing year. Today, Amazon.com offers a wide variety of products and services, from golf clubs to automobiles and everything in between. As for Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is currently estimated at $8.7 billion, he continues to privately support various charities both through Amazon.com auctions and other organizations, however he usually does so without disclosing the details. For example, Jeff donated Amazon.com stock worth an estimated $1 million to one or more charities in 2006, but the specifics are unknown.

What we do know is that Jeff introduced us to a new way of conducting business and for that he will always be remembered. This was made possible due to his outspoken vision of working hard, having fun and making history. He’s definitely done all of these things and much more. As Amazon.com races down the e-commerce superhighway, we can only speculate what will be next for both the company and its founder. Whatever the future holds, we can rest assured that with Jeff at the wheel, there will always be bigger and better surprises around every corner.

Works Cited

Byers, Ann. Jeff Bezos: the Founder of Amazon.Com. New York: Rosen, 2007.

Garty, Judy. Jeff Bezos: Business Genius of Amazon.Com. Berkeley: Enslow, 2003.

Spector, Robert. Amazon.Com: Get Big Fast. New York: Harper, 2002.