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Daily Creative
Formerly known as The Accidental Creative, Daily Creative is your source for becoming brave, focused, and brilliant. Being a creative professional should be the greatest job in the world. You get to solve problems, express yourself, bring something new into the world and you get paid to do it. What's not to love, right? Yet every day, creative pros face, tremendous pressure and uncertainty. The temptation is to just play it safe, surrender to distraction and settle for less than your best. Daily Creative is about making sure that's not your story. Each episode focuses on a topic relevant to creative pros, like how to come up with ideas under pressure, how the collaborate when you're overwhelmed, or how to lead your team and help them discover motivation. Host Todd Henry (author of The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Herding Tigers, and other best-selling books) and featured guests such as Seth Godin, Cal Newport, Kim Scott, and other brilliant authors, practitioners, and experts guide our journey through practical topics to help you be brave, focused, and brilliant in your work and leadership. It's time to fall back in love with your work. Listen to Daily Creative wherever you get your podcasts, or subscribe for free to Daily Creative+ to get bonus episodes, full interviews, and more delivered each week.
Latest Episode
Own Your Six Square Feet
In this episode, we unpack the story of Teruo Yabe and his remarkable turnaround of the Tokyo bullet train cleaning teams—transforming a low-morale, high-turnover environment into the global gold standard for operational excellence. We explore how a simple shift in ownership and agency can unlock creativity, engagement, and even industry-changing outcomes.
We challenge the notion that we have to wait for the perfect job, brief, or title to make an impact. Instead, we discuss the concept of "y
Recent Episodes
122
Aug. 19, 2026
Own Your Six Square Feet
In this episode, we unpack the story of Teruo Yabe and his remarkable turnaround of the Tokyo bullet train cleaning teams—transforming a low-morale, high-turnover environment into the global gold standard for operational excellence. We explore how a simple shift in ownership and agency can unlock creativity, engagement, and even industry-changing outcomes. We challenge the notion that we have to wait for the perfect job, brief, or title to make an impact. Instead, we discuss the concept of "y
121
Aug. 11, 2026
The Octopus and the Mountain
This episode pulls back the curtain on how creativity gets stifled—both in our early lives and inside our organizations—and explores practical ways to reclaim it. We start with the extraordinary journey of Ruth Asawa, whose education as an artist began in the unlikely setting of an internment camp, not a prestigious institution. Her story dismantles the widespread myth that creativity is a resource problem and reframes creativity as a function of permission and ownership. We then talk with An
120
Aug. 4, 2026
The Long Moment
In this episode of Daily Creative, we reflect on the story of mathematician Andrew Wiles, whose years-long journey to solve Fermat's Last Theorem becomes a metaphor for creative perseverance. We examine how our attention is constantly siphoned away in small increments—a phenomenon dubbed "human fracking"—leaving us with little space for deep, transformative thought. We challenge listeners to resist the lure of constant stimulation and instead carve out “the long moment”: uninterrupted stretches
119
July 21, 2026
The Price of Becoming
In 1852, a mid-level postal surveyor named Anthony Trollope gave Britain its iconic red pillar mailbox. He also wrote 47 novels, most of them before breakfast, 250 words every 15 minutes with a pocket watch on his desk. When he told the truth about his method in his autobiography, critics wrote him off for decades. People wanted genius to descend like weather. Trollope knew it was assembled, a small daily task at a time. My guest today wrote his newest book exactly the same way: 100 words eve
118
July 14, 2026
Of No Importance Whatsoever
In this episode, we explore the creative paradox that sometimes the best work begins when we stop trying to produce our "best work." We revisit the story of Richard Feynman, who rediscovered his passion for physics by indulging in what seemed like trivial curiosity—with world-changing consequences. We’re joined first by Ian Bogost, author of The Small Stuff, professor, writer, and game designer, who unpacks the idea of “gratification”—the sensory enchantment of everyday life—and why chasing o
117
July 7, 2026
Why Great Ideas Fail: Escaping the Pain Cave
In this episode, we explore what really drives demand for creative products and services. Through the story of how OXO Good Grips was born—not from a brainstorm, but from noticing real pain in the kitchen—we examine why the most successful innovations aren’t invented; they’re observed in real-world frustration. Our guest, Rob Snyder, introduces “the Pain Cave” and the concept of the “hell yes customer,” explaining why so many creative pros find their ideas fall flat—even when they seem object
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About the Host
Todd Henry
Author, International Speaker, Advisor
For nearly 20 years, Todd Henry has equipped leaders and creative pros to become the most valuable person in any room.
He is the author of seven books (including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, and Herding Tigers) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks internationally on creativity, productivity, passion for work, and generating brilliant ideas.
Todd’s podcast Daily Creative has been downloaded more than 20 million times since 2005. Over the years, Todd has developed a comprehensive framework (The Brilliance Engine™) that empowers leaders and creative pros to produce brilliant work in healthy teams that make a meaningful difference in the world.
Through his keynotes and workshops, he shares practical strategies to help people and teams to be brave, focused, and brilliant every day.