You know that thing where you have a perfectly reasonable, relatively simple idea… and then 4 hours and 45 minutes later you're three rabbit holes deep, talking to six people, researching seventeen things, and wondering how this became a project? Yeah. Amy and Megan know that one.

In this episode, they compare notes on two projects that looked deceptively simple at first. Megan thought she was basically just making a decision. Amy thought she was basically just going to send a few emails, secure a space, and show up for a two-session coworking pilot. Naturally, neither of those things remained remotely that simple.

Megan's "quick decision" turned into research, benchmarking, checking whether the idea actually made business sense, asking other people for input, and discovering even more things to consider every time she talked it through. Amy forgot what happens with an event: meetings, multiple organizations, flyers, event promotion, figuring out who should attend, explaining why people should care, and getting everyone on the same page before the whole thing developed 15 different versions of itself.

They talk about the very neurodivergent experience of getting excited about an idea while your brain conveniently glosses over all the tiny details that will eventually come back demanding attention. They also get into the opposite problem: knowing there are endless things you could consider, and trying to account for every possible risk before actually moving forward. And to be fair, both of these were simpler than other projects each has started. They were already smaller, and still involved more than anticipated.

And then there's the unexpected upside. Even if the project doesn't work out, the research, learning, experience, connections, and skills gained along the way aren't necessarily wasted. Sometimes the project is the project… and sometimes the project is accidentally becoming a much more complicated way of learning something you didn't know you needed to learn.

Basically: two neurodivergent brains, two "simple" ideas, approximately 900 unexpected layers, and one very questionable approach to project management. At least this time, there was a scope. Sort of.

#ADHD #Neurodivergent #ADHDProjectManagement #ExecutiveFunction #Neurodiversity #DecisionMaking