The family forest

Many years ago, my paternal uncle asked, "How is X related to me?" and I replied, "He is not. He is related to my mom, but because your dad (my paternal grandfather) and he were classmates through school, you call him uncle.". And thus started my effort to construct a family tree. The first stab was on paper, which lasted a couple of days. Then I had to employ software because the paper became too complex and crowded. After adding my parents' siblings, their spouses, and their children, as well as my grandparents' siblings, their children, and their grandchildren, I soon had a list of 300 people.

Then I went to India and started asking questions. Soon, it was up to 600. Then, my dad's 6th cousin called and said, "I heard you are building a family tree. I have some info; I will send you.". A week later, I received a sheaf of handwritten notes that contributed another 200 people! Then, a cousin sent me a family tree that her uncle had compiled 30 years prior, adding another 50 people to it. Then I went to a party where I met a lady who had been a classmate with both my grandmothers in elementary school! The moment I asked her to tell me about my grandmothers, she got so excited that I had to scramble to write down all the antics that my grandmothers had gotten into.

And so, after many random encounters and people gifting me bits of my genealogy, I have a family forest (it is no longer just a tree) of 1,900 people.

Perhaps that is why the "Zero to One" book resonated with me - getting the project off the ground was the most challenging part. Once people knew that I was compiling this information, they were eager to help. Sometimes I received large blocks of information, sometimes just the birthday of one person. But each little bit added up. And it keeps growing.

Recently, a relative remarked that it is no longer a family forest; it is a family ocean. While he meant to tease me, I took it as a big compliment.

Anyways, now for the geeky twist. When building software, we rely on tribal knowledge. We are sure that everyone is aware that component A communicates with component B, team X is responsible for reviewing security concerns, and that the database is automatically backed up. What happens when the tribal knowledge is known to only a handful of people? In my career, I have had to record tribal knowledge, like building my family forest - one tiny bit at a time, pestering people to provide me with the information I needed. In retrospect, it was the wrong approach. Engineers should record information as needed and share the locations with everyone. That way, everyone has access to crucial information at all times.