Two Roads Diverged in a Mod 2 Report

The mod 2 report was one of those assignments that you hear about in advance, make a point to write down the deadline (on your google calendar, corkboard, post it notes, forehead – you know, whatever works), and then watch as the days approach much too quickly. It seemed like this huge obstacle that would be impossible to climb.

In mod 2 we had done a variety of different experiments, and there seemed to be a multitude of ways to organizes these results into a story. The sheer number of potential paths was daunting so I narrowed it down and decided to give one direction a shot.

But it ended up seeming disjointed, as if it were two different ideas, which made me wonder…

Why not just go with the new idea instead of clinging to the old one.  (Ha! sunk cost fallacy, you won’t trick me [this time]!) It was a freeing realization, but there was just one little problem. I now had to sift through the work I had already done and see what I could salvage.

Then some words advice from an old English teacher came to mind like the voice of Yoda during a Jedi battle. “Eat your elephants one bite at a time.” These goofy words of wisdom prompted me to sort through each section at a time, rather than worrying about getting the whole report done in one brain frying sitting. 

It you ever have to eat any elephants, I really recommend doing it one bite at a time. The results are rather sweet.