Monday, December 7, 2009

Checkmate: Tornado Loses.


One of the few times CEO Roger Rienstra lost a chess game was when his opponent was an F3 tornado.

OK, Harlequin Cat will accept that as an excuse.

Seriously, an evening tornado hit his Fort Worth advertising agency on March 28, 2000, and Roger, who would be diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor two years later, walked in the next day to see his game interrupted.

Really interrupted.

That’s when he reminded one of his alarmed colleagues of the inscription he wrote in the Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts On The Business of Life book he had given her a couple of years back.

“My own thoughts on the business of life is that it works out best where you care enough about everything, but not too much about anything.”

Cool enough. His chess game was just a chess game.

Kind of.

Seven years after his death, his handwritten words still ring true, especially as marketing and branding experts espouse "innovative game strategies" for 2010.

1 comment:

  1. This post brought back a flood of memories -- of Roger, of Fort Worth, and of the 2000 tornado. Getting your world turned upside down helps clarify the aspects of your life -- both personal and professional -- that are truly important. Thanks for sharing.

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