How a Vineyard “Improvement” Nearly Destroyed European Wine — and What We Can Learn from It
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How a Vineyard “Improvement” Nearly Destroyed European Wine — and What We Can Learn from It
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About this listen
The blog post
Sometimes an “improvement” makes things worse. The Germans even have a word for it: verschlimmbesserung.
In this episode, Mark Graban shares the story of how a well-intentioned fix to Europe’s vineyard fungus problem in the 19th century nearly wiped out the continent’s wine industry. The introduction of American grapevines solved one issue but unleashed a far bigger one: phylloxera, a microscopic pest that devastated vineyards, economies, and cultures across Europe — including Mallorca, where wine production lay dormant for nearly a century.
This historical case offers powerful lessons for today’s leaders:
Why most of the time small, contained tests are best
When risks are irreversible, testing may not be safe at all
How to balance experimentation with rigorous risk assessment
Why good intentions aren’t enough if you create tomorrow’s crisis while solving today’s problem
From vineyards to hospitals, factories, and offices, the challenge is the same: how do we solve problems without making things worse?