A New Zealand couple, Colin and Donna Craig-Brown, recently harvested a potato weighing 17.4 pounds (7.9 kilograms). Yes, the potato, playfully named Doug, weighs about the same as small dog.
The best part: They weren’t even trying to grow the giant potato!
Colin discovered the potato in a weedy, uncultivated patch in their garden. They last grew cucumbers in the spot where Colin found the enormous potato.
The couple are puzzled about how it got there and how long it has been growing. It’s possible that “Doug” the potato has been quietly getting bigger underground for a couple years.
“It’s a mystery to me,” Colin said. “It’s one of nature’s little pleasant surprises.”
I chose to share this story because it made me realize that sometimes ideas can be like Doug the potato. We don’t know where ideas come from or how they get started.
It seems like big ideas appear fully formed out of nowhere. We go about our business, nurturing the “gardens” of our minds, and ideas grow while we’re busy getting lunch or driving our cars. And they often grow best when unforced, when left alone to mature.
Where ideas come from is a mystery not fully solved by science (as far as I know). But let’s be clear, this post is mostly about a dog-sized potato. When I saw the story, it seemed just ridiculous enough for a Fun Finds Friday post.
Enjoy your weekend! I will be back on Monday with a fresh post on industrial manufacturing.
As always, you’re welcome to get in touch.
–parin
Managing Partner
Photo: Donna Craig-Brown via AP
With over two decades of experience, Parin leads an expert demand-generation agency, StratMg, that helps industrial manufacturing clients achieve unambiguous and quantified organic sales growth across the US, EMEA & APAC.
Parin has built & positioned StratMg to be a value-added marketing services provider that strives to create a culture of quantified sales-driven marketing initiatives leading to sustained business growth through channel management, diversification, new customer acquisition and retention strategies and tactical execution.
