Cull the Herd

I know a real-life contender for “the most interesting man in the world.” His name is Henrik Werdelin. He’s the co-founder of BarkBox, and founder of Prehype, a venture development firm that’s seen a bunch of success in recent years (including multiple exits in excess of a billion dollars from various ventures). I honestly don’t remember how I originally came in touch with Henrik, but he and his team have become invaluable collaborators, thought partners, and friends over the last few years.

Perry and I were interviewing Henrik about his very rigorous system (what he calls the “8+1 Framework”) for tracking his progress in all the important aspects of his life. He’s a fastidious notebook-filler — and like me, prefers to keep a thin, pocket-sized notebook on his person at all times — but unlike folks who design elaborate storage systems, which tend to make the notebooks themselves precious artifacts, he doesn’t bother keeping them when they’re finished. “I just throw them away.”

You can imagine my surprise — as I felt the earth rumble at the collective shudder of notebook keepers of ages past, rolling over in their graves.

Before he throws them away, Henrik does something important: “I read through the whole thing, and transcribe whatever interesting ideas I find into the first page of my new notebook.”

To me, this is an exceptional example of being in the flow of idea generation, and not being caught up with a stagnant pond. It’s also a nice compliment to some of my own techniques, which I mentioned in “Practically Equipping A Creative Practice.”

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