IthaTaljaard

After spending 20 years in the corporate world (working at companies such as Liberty Life, SBSA and Absa), Itha Taljaard founded Sense to Solve in July 2007 focusing on Reinventing Thinking. Specific focus areas are innovation, applied creative thinking, strategy, design thinking, leadership development, behavioural insights, decision-making (choice architecture) and the development of innovative spaces conducive to good thinking.

Itha often lectures at Gibs on innovation, creativity and design thinking and has been involved in various leadership development programmes since 2013. Her journey in creative thinking and innovation started in 2001 when she was part of the initial team setting up the Innovation and Foresight department at SBSA.

Itha has multiple certifications including Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, LEGO Serious Play, Whole Brain Thinking and The Neuroscience of Thinking, exploring the intricacies of complex problem solving and the ability to actively apply creativity through a deep understanding of how the brain works. Itha and her team have successfully built different innovative spaces, including the Gibs i-Lab, the Leaderslab at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria and the SBSA Business Incubator in Rosebank. Sense to Solve has worked with clients such as MTN, Vodacom, SBSA, ABSA, Nedbank, First Rand, RMB, FNB, Sanlam and SAB Miller.