Alright, so I saw folks talking about how guys like Jeff Passan map out all the baseball trade stuff. You know, like a big connected tree showing who went where and what rumors led to what deal. Looked kinda neat, honestly. Made me think, maybe I could try that structure for something else I was dealing with.
My Little Project
It wasn’t baseball. I had this personal project, trying to figure out all the steps needed for this community thing I was helping with. Lots of moving parts, different people involved, deadlines all over the place. Seemed like a good candidate for that ‘tree’ approach. So, I got started.
First step: Grabbed a big whiteboard I have in the garage. Figured visual was the way to go. Started writing down the main goal in the middle. Then I started branching out. Who was responsible for what? What task depended on another task finishing? Drew lines, added names, put down dates.
Then the mess began. Almost immediately, things changed. Someone couldn’t do their part, a date shifted, a new requirement popped up out of nowhere. I was erasing, redrawing lines, trying to squeeze in new boxes. My neat tree started looking like a tangled mess of weeds.
- Tried using different colored markers. That helped a bit.
- Tried sticky notes for things that might change. They kept falling off.
- Tried just making a simple list instead. Lost the connections.
Hitting a Wall
After a couple of hours, I just stood back and looked at it. It was chaos. Honestly, it was more confusing than when I started. I felt like I was just chasing my own tail. It reminded me of trying to follow those ridiculously complicated assembly instructions for cheap furniture. You know the ones – diagrams that make no sense, parts that don’t quite fit.
I remember this one time, years ago, trying to assemble a bookshelf. The instructions were just pictures, no words. Looked simple enough. Halfway through, I realized I’d put the main shelf supports in backward. Had to take the whole damn thing apart. Then I found out I was missing two specific screws. Had to drive to the hardware store, argue with the guy there that yes, this weird screw does exist, finally find something close enough, drive back, and finish the job. The bookshelf stood up, sure, but it always had a little wobble. Every time I looked at it, I remembered that stupid afternoon.
This whiteboard mess felt just like that. Trying to impose perfect order on something inherently messy. You spend all this energy drawing lines and making boxes, but reality just keeps throwing curveballs. You erase, you redraw, you adapt.
So, yeah. My attempt at making a ‘Passan tree’ for my project didn’t quite work out as planned. It mostly just showed me how complicated the thing really was. Made me appreciate how guys like him manage to make sense of that constant flood of sports information. It’s definitely a skill. Maybe the real point isn’t having a perfect tree, but just trying to wrestle with the chaos for a while. That’s the work.
