One of the interesting things about watching The Curse of Oak Island is how the potential outcomes change as new clues are found.

Sometimes the clues will support a current theory and provide evidence that they are headed in the right direction.

However, sometimes the clues will bring up new questions that will send them searching in different directions or toward a new theory or time period.

Currently one of the major projects is following the course of a road through the swamp and trying to figure out where it goes. The artifacts that they uncover are sometime confusing. They may be from the wrong time period, or seem out of place.

Over time though sometimes the clues come together and make sense.

At the same time they are still drilling holes in the area of the Money Pit and perhaps are following a tunnel toward the original shaft.

Will they ever find out how everything connects and find the treasure or why the Money Pit existed?

Of course, each week there is always a cliff hanger that brings you back for the next episode.

This reminds me of working on an archaeological dig where we gather information as we search for answers as to what happened in the past.

As we find more and more information the story becomes clearer. As results of tests come back sometime the story changes with the new information. As data captured on the dig is analyzed further the story will also change.

The team prepares for the next season of digging with plans of where to continue searching for more information and they build on what they know from the past.

External sources are researched for more information that will help understand the finds.

Similar investigations also take place in our professional or personal lives.

I think of many projects at work where we have dug into facts to determine the causes of problems and how we are going to fix them. We have to sometimes mine the data to find out the root cause of a problem. Sometime the results are surprising or the facts will send us toward something we never thought would be the cause of the problem.

A personal example would be genealogy where often a tiny bit of information will break down a brick wall we have been working on for decades.

OK, my mind wandered from the original intent of this post but I will leave the title the same.

Just remember that sometimes a lot of hard work and analysis is needed to find what you are looking for. Whether it is something physical, or just an answer.

Steven