The IAK: About Us

The IAK

The IAK has been a significant driver for leadership advancement and corporate development since 1970. We believe that sustainable positive change can only be achieved by strengthening individual engagement, mindset and know-how.

The services and competencies that we have developed over the decades are founded on a pragmatic integration of strategy, structure, synergy and culture within the organization.

Since 1970

Everything began in 1970, a time during which social change and political defiance were at its most vibrant. Three young assistant science professors at the Cologne University in Germany launched the IAK with the intent to research and develop the advancement of innovation und creativity. Their vision became the pre-courser to a new organizational- and leadership consulting group was born. The founders quickly realized that sustainable change can not be achieved simply by introducing new methods and theories, but by developing the mindset and strengths of the individual. This approach remains the integral core to our work to this day.

Today, die IAK-Group is an alliance of over 25 country partners including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the USA.

1970 Christo Quiske and Stefan Skirl are launching the first Institute for Creativity in Germany. Core competencies are the merger of creativity and leadership in the organizational training and development sector.
1977 The IAK client list encompasses almost all large German-based and globally active organizations working in Germany.
1981 The TETA Seminar is being developed. The first seminar events are being tested – with overwhelming success.
1998 IAK goes international. Der cornerstone for internationalization is being laid with the launch of IAK Switzerland.
2002 IAK expands outside the German-speaking borders. IAK Italy is formed. Responding to the international context, a new development program is born: “Intercultural Management”
2003 IAK expands to IAK USA in New York.
2004 IAK Austria joins the group in January 2004
2007 The team pushes the envelope on innovation: the first” Salon d’Innovation” is held in Cologne, Germany.
The InnoMindset seminar, focused on innovation mindset and attitude, is launched and meets with an enthusiastic audience.
2008 The Seminar „TETA” is further developed emphasizing “leadership personality and behavior”. Workshop TETA  2 is born. TETA 2 is offered both as an open enrolment event as well as a company-own program.
2011 The online tool REALTIME-PULS-CHECK is developed, facilitating “social measurement Software” – a further evolutionary step into a collective “intelligence” concept.
2012 Research & developed projects are tackled together with Ruhr University Bochum R&D development program: The DaVinci Project and Creativity Barometer, resulting in CreatIC (innovation drive und health through real time feedback).
2016 New forms of learning and development result in the digital TransformationCulture 4.0. IAK’s DTK 4.0 used new digital technologies to merge with analog experiential learning events. The effectiveness of development and innovation processes is magnified. The expectations for Economy 4.0: a new and adaptive mindset and attitude in the individual, the corporate culture and the organization as a whole.

Our new website goes live, encouraging future and existing clients to use it as a platform for information and communication.