In the quiet hours of the night under the bright glow of carefully angled lights, Jerry Johnson works piece-by-piece to decipher every subtle hue and shape of his puzzle masterpiece. The rhythmic embrace of jazz marks the time spent completing each 1,000-piece section of his greatest challenge yet, the world’s largest puzzle at a remarkable 60,000 pieces that will stretch 8 feet tall and 29 feet wide, outsizing the average SUV. 

For Johnson, this considerable feat of patience and perseverance is more about the journey than the completed project. Building challenging puzzles began as a family affair as he competed with his sister from across a table during the holidays to see who could finish faster. Over the years, he has honed his craft and raised the stakes, always searching for the next level of difficulty, from size to composition. He maintains his focus on speed, tracking every hour spent on each project in detailed logbooks.

Forming the puzzles takes intense focus and sharp attention to detail, like searching for a needle in a haystack. Johnson has, in fact, completed a puzzle doing just that, picking out each pattern of straw and slight variation of yellow to reveal the hidden needle in its midst. Each new puzzle begins the same way: with organization, focus and strategy. He lays out the pieces across his board, scanning for familiar patterns and memorizing subtle lines and shapes. Johnson trained himself to spot a piece before even touching it, often recalling exactly where it sits on the board.

“How do you know this? How are you able to see this?” Johnson says. “Sometimes I amaze myself on being able to get some of these figured out.”

Although puzzling is often a solitary pursuit for Johnson, it has also become a meaningful way to connect with his friends and family. He often gifts puzzles to his grandchildren for birthdays and holidays, just as he received them as a child, hoping to spark the same passion in them. When he visits, they rush over excitedly to show off their latest completed works, beaming with pride.

"Every piece has a place, and all the answers are right there to figure out."

Johnson frequently displays his finished puzzles in his office, where they catch the eyes of curious colleagues. He completes each puzzle only once, finding his greatest joy in the process rather than the product. Once assembled, most puzzles are given to admirers, with the exception of a few personal favorites that hold special meaning. One of the puzzles he holds dearly was a mystery project given to him by a coworker. As he pieced together the image, he was surprised to reveal that it was a custom puzzle made from a photo of himself. 

Puzzles are more than just a hobby for Johnson; they have taught him the mental clarity to not get frustrated by problems and to instead see them from a different angle. To him, every piece has a place, and all the answers are right there to figure out. You just need to take a better look. 

The patience and understanding he’s gained from the activity have influenced the way he leads his teams as the program support division leader within the Technical Information Department. To him, every person is a piece, every challenge is a picture to solve. The patience he’s gained through puzzling has taught him to listen more deeply, observe more carefully and trust that it will
all fit together. 

“You want to finish fast,” he says. “But you can’t rush it. You have to think it through, try different approaches. That’s the same thing Ido with people.”

Just like with puzzles, you can’t force something to fit where it doesn’t belong. The pieces will tell you where they go, if you take the time to pay attention.

When that final piece of Johnson’s 60,000-piece puzzle falls into place, it won’t just mark the end of an extraordinary project, but a reminder of every moment spent diligently putting each last piece into place. Then he will be on to the next challenge, because for Johnson, there’s always another puzzle waiting to be solved.