Articles and Essays by Todd Henry

Creating

Cover Bands Don’t Change The World

Imitation is tempting, because it’s safer. But if you want to create sustained impact, the only path is to do brave, original work.

August 5, 2025

Leading

How Superpowers Become Supernovas

Why your greatest potential to derail your life and career isn’t in your weaknesses… it may be in your strengths.

July 29, 2025

Creating

This Insight About The “Like” Button Stopped Me Cold

Why chasing “likes” or a big objective might actually prevent you from achieving your goals. Instead, you should follow a series of small hunches.

July 22, 2025

Leading

You Are Not a Machine (and Neither Is Your Team)

The best work results from rhythmic effort, occasional sprints, and dare I say it… FUN.

July 15, 2025

Creating

Five Things You’re Not Managing (That Are Managing You)

You’re talented, driven, and full of ideas. Why do you still feel stuck, overwhelmed, or like your best work is always just out of reach? In a recent conference talk in Scottsdale, Arizona, I shared five areas where creative pros must build discipline if they want to do meaningful work.

July 11, 2025

Creating

Risk, Disney, and Banana Ball

How Jesse Cole went from being a “bored out of his mind” baseball coach to creating one of the most epic shows in sports, with a little inspiration from Walt Disney.

June 17, 2025

Creating

How To Deal With Complicated People

This week’s podcast featured some great advice from Ryan Leak and James Kimmel about how to manage workplace conflicts and grievances.

May 28, 2025

Creating

Ideas Are Easy, Making Them Great Is What Matters

Brilliant, impactful ideas are more like to be forged over time than to emerge in a flash of spontaneous inspiration. Are you dedicating the time and energy necessary to give your ideas their best chance at success?

May 12, 2025

Creating

How To Stay Optimistic

Optimism isn’t “wishful thinking.” It’s a practical, necessary, forward-looking element of doing brilliant, brave work. And if you lead others, it’s a critical part of getting others to follow you.

April 29, 2025

Creating

Why You Get Stuck: Definition, Motivation, Systems

Getting stuck when doing difficult, creative work is normal. However, staying stuck is a choice. There are three common, though not intuitive, places where you might be digging yourself into a rut.

April 23, 2025

Creating

Don’t Be a Collector, Be a Curator

Simply collecting interesting sparks is useless if you fail to deploy those insights in your leadership and creating. Here is a simple method for turning ephemera into creative gold.

April 15, 2025