Web Part connections

I have been playing with connecting web part features (out of the box), and it doesn't seem to work the way the documentation states, or maybe I'm just not understanding.  I see how this could be a powerful feature if it worked correctly.  I created a page and added 3 custom lists to the page and connected them through the "Configure Connections -- Web Page Dialog" wizard.  I'm trying to sort out who is still available to work on a project with the specific skills needed for this new project, basically resource planning.   1 table has the projects with a delivery person, the other has the availability of delivery resources, and the 3rd table has a list of employee skills.  So if a new project is started and we assign a delivery person to the 1st table,  I want to sort what projects this person is currently working and what skills they have listed in their resume or skills matrix table.  The STRANGE results I get are that for some entries in this first (projects) table for "Jim Bob" will sort correctly and then for another project in that 1st table for "Jim Bob" it will not sort the entries in the other 2 tables at all.  I have tried creating a Site Column to see if it is a properties issue and it doesn't seem to make a difference.  Can anyone shed any light on this situation? 

THANKS,

Deana