Contagious Culture
Contagious Culture
Kyle S. King
#171 | Unleashing Everyday Creativity with Caroline Brookfield
28 minutes Posted Mar 12, 2026 at 8:00 pm.
— Introduction and meeting Dr. Caroline Brookfield01:00 — What it means to be a professional cat herder02:30 — Creativity, mindfulness, and tolerance for ambiguity04:00 — The DANCE Framework for stronger creative thinking06:00 — Why leaders should stop editing ideas too early09:00 — Why leaders resist creativity and protect the status quo12:00 — The riptide lesson for navigating change14:00 — Pausing, curiosity, and building psychological safety
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Show notes
In this episode of the Contagious Culture Podcast, Kyle King sits down with Dr. Caroline Brookfield, veterinarian, speaker, consultant, comedian, and self-described professional cat herder.
Caroline explains how creativity and mindfulness help leaders navigate ambiguity, respond to change, and make better decisions without becoming overwhelmed by uncertainty. She introduces the DANCE Framework, a practical approach that encourages daydreaming, curiosity, novelty, comfort with ambiguity, and delaying judgment during the creative process.
Kyle and Caroline also discuss why leaders often say they want creativity while unconsciously rejecting unfamiliar ideas, how psychological safety allows teams to contribute more fully, and why sometimes the best response to change is not to fight harder, but to pause, observe, and consider new possibilities.
Key Topics
Using creativity and mindfulness to navigate uncertainty
Why leaders unconsciously resist unfamiliar ideas
Creating psychological safety for curiosity and innovation
The DANCE Framework for developing creative thinking
Pausing, adapting, and responding differently to change
Episode History
Dr. Brookfield's Bio
Dr. Caroline Brookfield is a veterinarian, professional speaker, consultant, comedian, and self-described professional cat herder.
Her work focuses on helping leaders and organizations build creativity, adaptability, and confidence during periods of uncertainty and change. Drawing from her experiences in veterinary medicine, emergency care, wildlife health, stand-up comedy, and organizational consulting, Caroline teaches people how to think differently, manage ambiguity, and create environments where new ideas can thrive.
She is also the creator of the DANCE Framework, which gives leaders and teams practical habits for strengthening creativity and navigating uncertainty.
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