Business Books

Illustration by Terry Allen for TIME

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Which management guru came up with the Cheese principle? Answer: Spencer Johnson, who is neither an M.B.A. nor a corporate veteran. He's an M.D. who trained at the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School. He has written 10 other best-selling business books. Johnson knows that some people find his book simpleminded. "Well, I think they're right," he says earnestly from his home in Hawaii. "The irony is that I concur with what they're saying. Those who are looking for answers find the simple, memorable approach the most valuable." It is hard to argue with that: the book has a resonance that stays with the typical reader for a long time. It is also hard to argue with 22 million copies sold.