Spencer Johnson

Spencer Johnson (1938–2017) was an American physician and author whose books on personal development and management have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Born in South Bend, Indiana, he earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Southern California and a medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, followed by residency training at Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic. Combining his medical background with a gift for simple storytelling, Johnson became one of the most influential voices in popular self-help literature.

His most famous work, "Who Moved My Cheese?" (1998), is a parable about four characters navigating change in a maze; it became an international phenomenon, translated into dozens of languages and embraced by corporations for employee training. Earlier, he co-authored "The One Minute Manager" (1982) with Ken Blanchard, a slim management classic that introduced techniques of one-minute goals, praise, and reprimands. Johnson also wrote "The One Minute Father," "The One Minute Mother," "Yes or No: The Guide to Better Decisions," "The Present" (2003), and "Peaks and Valleys" (2009), along with the beloved "ValueTales" children's series. His posthumously published "Out of the Maze" (2018) continued the "Cheese" story, cementing his legacy as a master of conveying profound ideas through simple fables.