Walden
How Walden works

The Manual

The whole method, in short chapters — how work gets shaped, bet on, and shipped in six-week cycles.

Start with the preface

The method at a glance

IShaping
IIThe betting table

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

W7

W8

IIIBuilding
IVCool-down

While the builders spend six weeks on the current bet, the shapers are working up the next pitches. In the two-week cool-down that follows, the betting table decides what gets built next.

Preface · Begin here

The two tracks

Shaping the next work while building the current work. The small vocabulary the rest of the manual is written in — the work, the people, and the picture that holds it together.

4 min · pitch · two tracks · cycle

  1. Chapter IShapingWorking an idea until it's concrete enough to bet on, and bounded enough to ship in six weeks.9 min · problem · appetite · solution · rabbit holes · no-gos
  2. Chapter IIThe betting tableWhat we take on, what we pass on, and who builds it.7 min · bets · passes · builders
  3. Chapter IIIBuildingThe bet bought the team six uninterrupted weeks of trust. This is what they do with it.8 min · scopes · hill chart · tasks
  4. Chapter IVCool-downTwo weeks between cycles to fix, clean up, and shape what's next.5 min · breathing room · the betting table · the next cycle

Preface + four chapters

About 33 minutes, cover to cover