Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Last Friday I was cruising the Middle Rhein, which has a castle or castle ruin on virtually every crag, hillside, or bend in the river.

We also passed the remains of the bridge at Remagen (where - I admit, WWII history buff that I am - I got a bit teary).

Of course, (and I’m probably about the millionth person to make this observation) the massive piles of stone all started with one lowly, grubby person putting one brick or rock on the ground. Then, the various tinpot emperors, archbishops, princes and dukes were always fighting over something, with huge egos battling for supremacy (and those lowly people being literal cannon fodder). All that work, blood, sweat and death - and now those piles are “picturesque” tourist sights (and few people remember, let alone care about Leo I, or Eugene the Unready or whatever…)

Nice whack in my “Aries, Center of the Universe” perspective. If I find myself skirmishing over some relatively trivial point - I’m gonna stop and think. Is this really important? Am I fighting because it’s right or because of my ego? Will anyone care in five months - let alone five centuries?

Have a great weekend! I’m going to be re-reading some of my medieval and war history books. (I recommend anything by Barbara Tuchman (med. history), John Keegan or Paul Fussell (war). William Manchester’s “A World Lit By Fire” is also excellent historical perspective. All should be at your local library.)

(For a different biz take on the river cruise, see my guest post over at Lipsticking, Marketing to Women: The “Couples” Factor)

Tags: Friday martini time, Mary Schmidt, perspective