logo

Category : IQspirations

07 Feb 2020

8 1/2 Ways to Train Outside the Box

Over the past 15 years, I have searched for parameters on how to think outside the box. I’ve lectured and mentored theses on creativity. I’ve delivered innovation workshops and seminars on creative skills and creative leadership. I’ve been to Silicon Valley and lived with Googlers, techies, and entrepreneurs. I’ve interviewed over 1,000 people in San Francisco and New York on creative thinking. In this article, I will deliver some key insights on how to train outside-the-box thinking. By Robert Gerlach, […]

25 Sep 2019

The Top 5 reasons for creativity in the workplace

  By Robert Gerlach, Creativity Researcher & Coach, IQudo sport of ideas Why am I creative in one company and not in another? Throughout my creative career in creative agencies in New York, Paris, and Hamburg, my creativity felt like a rollercoaster ride. In some places, I was flying high, producing great work and loving what I do, while in others, my creative output hit rock bottom, and I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come. So I asked myself, “Why […]

28 Feb 2019
Karl Lagerfeld

How did Karl Lagerfeld maintain his never-ending Creativity?

Last week Karl Lagerfeld, my idol died in Paris at the age of 85. The most prolific fashion designer of the 20th and 21st centuries designed about 16 collections per year for Chanel, Fendi and his own eponymous line, KARL. Monsieur Lagerfeld’s power station ran on high voltage 365 days a year. While colleagues lapsed into irrelevance or gotten involved in drugs and scandals, Lagerfeld dominated an industry that sucks up creative artists like a black hole. So the big question […]

30 Jan 2019
Millennials

Why Millennials need a different approach to innovation

Millennials are known for not staying in a job as long as former generations did. On the positive side, Millennials place more emphasis on collaboration, are tech-savvy, crave creative solutions and, above all, are looking for purpose. Maybe Millennials quit their job more often because they can’t find purpose in their job? One question therefore innovative companies could ask themselves is: What about our innovation process? Is it purpose-driven? Nowadays, the majority of innovative corporations indulge in the innovation approach Design Thinking. This method puts much […]

28 Oct 2018
Robert Gerlach

7 reminders we all need if we want to live the life of a creative

Early one morning at around 3 a.m. in Berlin, I met a woman in a pizza place who was actually a man with hair any real woman would die for. I couldn’t stop listening to him talking. She was from outer space and resembled the little Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s famous novel, especially when he giggled. Her perceptions about life, other dimensions of existence, and the secret backyard club he took me to at 5 a.m. made my synapses […]

27 Sep 2018
Who is in charge of the idea?

Who is in charge of the idea?

Have you ever asked yourself who is in charge of the idea? Or, who has the final word on how an idea is going to be rolled out? Here are three options: [ 1 ]  The one who is selling the idea? [ 2 ]  The supervisor of the one who came up with the idea? [ 3 ]  The one (group) who came up with the idea? ***** [ 1 ] The one selling the concept might adapt it […]

21 Jun 2018

Why creativity isn’t hard work but a sport!

We tend to buy into oft-cited quotes about creativity like that of Thomas Edison, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” But why would we still believe in a statement that belongs to the early last century? Just as innovators reframe problems and come up with new insights, I’d like to reframe the creative process itself as a sport. In this article, I would like to explain why creativity is a sport. By Robert Gerlach, Creativity Educator, Author & Keynote Speaker […]

30 May 2018
How to lead high-fliers

How to lead High-Fliers

Very often, creative leaders do not possess expertise in the domain of their high-fliers. This can be tricky. How on earth can you evaluate the quality of a creative solution if you are not knowledgeable in the area? By Robert Gerlach, Creativity Educator & Author High-fliers are people who have a lot of ability, are ambitious, and are likely to be even more knowledgeable in their domain than their supervisor. If you happen to be a creative leader without expertise in […]

25 Feb 2018

Want to become creative? Change your attitude and everything else will follow.

Character traits like curiosity, flexibility, ambition, perseverance, and disobedience, all favor creative thinking. As a consequence many of us believe, we should foster all of these traits to finally become more resourceful. But the truth is, we only need to adopt one thing: a creative attitude! Once you do this, everything else will follow. How my creative attitude got me out of 9/11 When the Twin Towers in New York were attacked in 2001, the world stood still. Everyone was […]

26 Jan 2018

Evolve from your DNA

Why looking at best practice examples might get you on the wrong track, and what kind of thinking would be far better to fast-forward your company and stay unique on the market. By Robert Gerlach, Creativity Educator, Author & Founder of IQudo sport of ideas In ourIQudo creative leadership workshops, participants sometimes ask about best-practice examples. Learning from best-practice for sure is helpful because you get inspired by the success story. But, you probably never devour enough to finally say, “Ok, […]