August 30, 2023
What is one tool you use all the time at work, and how does it
The pen is mightier than the sword—in this case it’s a pencil and a little black notebook.
Why is it your favorite?
I have carried the same pencil for 30-plus years and fill 3 ½ x 5 ½ black, blank sheet (or grid) notebooks. If I need to remember something, I write it down. I take meeting notes, write down ideas, doodle, write down phone numbers, dates, you name it. I write quotes, poems, song lyrics, even bumper stickers; whatever I find has meaning or value. I have used it to make mazes and draw sunsets. I bring them to every meeting, use them on every call, and they travel with me wherever I go, whether that’s NYC, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, London or Pittsburgh.
How did you acquire your tool or hear about it for the first time?
The pencil is a Montblanc mechanical pencil, which I have broken and replaced many parts of. It was a gift that was given to me by my then girlfriend and now wife. I typically use pencil because I make mistakes that would otherwise be permanent in ink.
This pencil has been with me my entire career. I used it back in the day when we used typewriters and the internet didn’t exist, or at least it wasn’t being used at agencies yet.
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