september 2007 Trivia Answer

 

Question:

With which U.S. laboratory is scientist Ernest Everett Just most closely associated?

  1. Cold Spring Harbor Lab
  2. Marine Biological Lab
  3. Jackson Lab
  4. Friday Harbor Lab

Answer:

2. Marine Biological Laboratory

 

And the winner is...

Gustavo Rodriguez
Postdoctoral Fellow
Baylor College of Medicine

 

The prize:

Who Moved My Cheese

by Spencer Johnson, M.D

 

 

 

More than a decade ago, Spencer Johnson, M.D., introduced the business world to "The One Minute Manager." (This led to "The One Minute Mother," "The One Minute Father," and so on.) The book became standard reading for many business managers.

With "Who Moved My Cheese?" Dr. Johnson tells a parable of change, of how we react to it, and the dire straits we can find ourselves in when we don't follow that change. The story is told in simple terms, so simply that one might think there is little value in the story. And yet after hearing "Who Moved My Cheese?" our 11-year-old son was able to identify himself and his behaviors in the story.

The story concerns four characters, two mice, and two "little people." The characters live in a maze chasing after cheese. Of course the cheese is intended to be a metaphor for anything we chase after in life that we believe will make us happy. As in life, the characters are never sure why the cheese is placed in the maze, nor the source of the cheese.

In such simple terms, Dr. Johnson describes the trials and tribulations we all have in life: joy, excitement, sorrow, greed, envy, stubborness, fear, and the list goes on.

In a section after the story four friends describe the impact that the story had on them and how they saw themselves and their actions in the context of the story. We, as a family, read the story aloud and have discussed, and continue to discuss, our feelings and actions in the terms of the story.

The book is an incredibly fast read, less than one hour, even when read aloud. We find we reference it in our conversations almost every day.

If you've ever been afraid to make a change for fear of what might come; if you think the world is your oyster and can't possibly get any better; if things slowly seem to be "going to hell in a hand basket," you need to read this book! One reading can change your life.