The Accidental Creative

In this episode, we dive deep into what it really means to choose creativity, rather than simply waiting for inspiration to strike. We open with the fascinating origin story of Photoshop—how a grad student’s simple problem-solving evolved, through deliberate choices and refinement, into a revolutionary creative tool. This story sets the stage for this episode’s exploration of how intentional actions, not just spontaneous bursts, drive meaningful creative outcomes.We’re joined by Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, senior research scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of the new book, The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action. Zorana shares insights from her 25 years of creativity research, focusing especially on the overlooked emotional aspects of creative work. We discuss why creativity is about continuous, intentional choices—both big and small—that help us make progress, manage our energy, and use our emotions as information.Together, we unpack a