Alright, let’s talk about this thing called ‘Tonga Loa’. Sounds exotic, maybe like some island getaway? Nah, wasn’t anything like that for me. It was more like a long, slow crawl through something messy.
I remember getting dropped into it. Wasn’t really my choice, more like ‘hey, you’re on this now’. At first glance, didn’t seem too bad. Just another project, another task on the list. People threw around some documents, had a kickoff meeting. Standard stuff. But right from the start, something felt off. Like the foundations were shaky, you know?
Deep in the Weeds
Then the real grind started. What was supposed to take a few weeks stretched into months. It was just… stuck. Trying to move forward felt like pulling teeth. We’d have meetings, talk for hours, and end up right back where we started. Felt like nobody really owned it, or maybe too many people thought they did.
Here’s a taste of the daily stuff:
- Trying to get a straight answer? Good luck.
- Finding the right person? A maze.
- Getting resources we actually needed? Felt like begging.
- Progress reports? Mostly guesswork and hopeful thinking.
I spent ages just trying to untangle things. Made diagrams, wrote notes, tried to connect the dots myself because the official picture made no sense. Put in extra time, hoping a bit more effort would break the logjam. Sometimes you’d get a tiny win, a small step forward, and think ‘okay, maybe now…’ but then it would just slide back again. Frustrating doesn’t even cover it.
The End…?
So how did ‘Tonga Loa’ end? Honestly, it didn’t really have a big finale. It just sort of… faded. Like everyone got tired. Attention shifted to the next shiny object, the next crisis. Parts of it got absorbed into other things, other parts just got dropped. No victory lap, no clear resolution. It just petered out.
What did I get out of it? Mostly a headache and a masterclass in recognizing a sinking ship. You learn to spot the signs, you know? The vague goals, the lack of clear leadership, the constant circling. And you learn resilience, I guess. You learn how to just keep your head down and do your bit, even when the whole thing feels pointless. It wasn’t pretty, but yeah, that was my Tonga Loa experience. Just wading through, day by day.
