You may know the song Oklahoma! from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical: “O-klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain, and the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet…”
There’s a 99% chance the wheat that’s a-wavin’ is semi-dwarf wheat, a variant developed in the 1950s that is credited for saving over a billion people from starvation. Regular wheat — those tall stocks we think of in the song — become useless if the wind topples them to the ground, something that happened often with tall and thin plants. Dwarf wheat resolved that issue by genetically engineering a shorter stalk that was less subject to those winds, more resistant to disease, required less time to grow, and was easier to harvest. It took over 10 years and 6000 different variations to achieve the goal but ultimately revolutionized wheat production across the globe. Dr. Norman Borlaug, an American agronomist who led the multi-national research effort, won a Nobel Prize for his work.
This story illustrates the power of picking the right problem to solve. Dr. Borlaug and his team didn’t attempt to end hunger by addressing the entire agricultural supply chain but instead focused on increasing the yield of wheat in Mexico. What they learned was then replicated in Pakistan and India and now accounts for virtually all of the worldwide wheat acreage.
What’s your equivalent of wheat — the core element that if you got right could have ripple effects throughout your organization or personal life? You don’t have to improve everything if you are astute enough to know your own version of the amber waves of grain.
