Dr. Neethling is the President of the South African Creativity Foundation and the Creator of the Neethling Brain Instruments (NBI). He is a world-renowned scholar and practitioner in the area of creativity thinking and learning.

A Member of an international steering committee to research the possible integration of the two disciplines – Creativity and Innovation – he gave the opening keynote at the European Creativity and Innovation Conference (ECCI) in Belgium.
He was invited as a co-author to contribute to the trend-setting book on 21st century innovation ‘The Future of Innovation’, coining the phrase. ‘Innovation of the mind without innovating the heart is no innovation at all.
A Member of the International Innovation Alliance – a group of 7 innovation reward recipients from five continents – he is also a Recipient of the Excellence in Innovation Award (Mumbai) – one of the most prestigious innovation awards in Asia.
He was the Co-developer of the Hit TV show ‘Out of the Box’ (WINNER OF THE 2007 ‘US INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL’ SILVER SCREEN AWARD).
Further, Dr. Neethling is a Guinness World Record Holder as co-author of ‘Making the Impossible Possible’ ‘the book of more than a 100 pages written in the fastest time ever – four and a half minutes.
Kobus holds six degrees including two Masters, a Doctorate and Post-Doctorate (cum laude) in the identification and development of creative behaviour (Universities of Cape Town and Georgia, USA) and received an International Leadership Award from the CreativeProblem Solving Institute, USA:
Has written more than 80 books and 9 TV series including three international best-sellers: ‘Creativity uncovered’; ‘Very smart parents’ and version two of ‘Am I clever or am I Stupid?’ which has sold more than 200 000 copies))
He works with major corporations, national sporting teams, and education groups from all over the world.
Dr Neethling invented the largest battery of whole brain instruments in the world (used in 35 countries), including the unique 8-dimensional instrument and a whole brain picture instrument for illiterate people.
He published a world-first video/book integration entitled ‘Taking you Beyond’. It includes 40 bar-graphs (one per chapter) which allow the reader to view 40 videos by swiping their smartphone across the bar-graph
Inventor of NBI(Neethling Brain Instrument) on whole brain thinking, an award-winning and internationally renowned leader in the fields of Whole Brain Thinking and creative behavior.
With well over 80 books, 9 television series and 6 degrees as part of his track record, Dr. Neethling has become the go-to-expert for companies, educators, leaders and individuals for guidance on how to maximize potential through the optimization of the entire brain. He is the founder and president of the South African Creativity Foundation and has received numerous international accolades for his work and contributions in creative behaviour and cognitive power. The Neethling Brain Instruments (NBI®) is his brainchild, enabling highly accurate brain profiling, which forms the basis for training in whole brain and creative thinking training.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DR. KOBUS NEETHLING
· Kobus Neethling was invited to train the staff of Nelson Mandela, just after he became the First President of a new Democratic South Africa. The topic was “The importance of Creativity and Innovation in a new South Africa”. This was a great honour for Dr. Neethling – regarded as the leading creativity expert in South Africa.
· Dr. Neethling was invited by the office of the Prime Minister of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to deliver a presentation on “How to introduce and sustain Creativity and Innovation in the Organization”.
· President of the South African Creativity Foundation
· Holds six degrees including two Masters, a Doctorate and Post-Doctorate (cum laude) in the identification and development of creative behaviour (Universities of Cape Town and Georgia-USA)
· Rotary Foundation Scholarship 1983/84 *
· Has written more than 90 books and 9 TV series including a number of international bestsellers (Including ‘Creativity uncovered’; ‘Very smart parents’; ‘Taking you beyond’; ‘Love, sex and the brain’; ‘Creative rugby’ and the new version of ‘Am I clever or am I stupid’ which has sold more than 200000 copies)
· Guinness World Record Holder: Co-author of “Making the Impossible possible” — the book of more than a 100 pages written in the fastest time ever — four and a half minutes
· Has received 10 International Who’s Who Awards including Personality of the Year (2000); One of 2000 outstanding Scholars of the 20th century (1999: Cambridge England) and The International Who’s Who of Intellectuals Award
· Received the 1998 International Leadership Award from the Creative Problem Solving Institute — USA
· Received the first International Creative Genius Award (2004) from the International Genius Academy (USA)
· Developed the largest battery of Whole Brain Instruments in the world (used in 30 countries) including the acclaimed 8-Dimension Brain Model
· International Silver Screen Award (for a TV episode called Creativity — 2005)
· Works with major corporations, national sporting teams, and education groups from all over the world
· Voted by Femina magazine as one of the six best presenters in South Africa
· Co-developer of the Hit TV show “ Out of the Box” — WINNER OF THE 2007 ‘US INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL’ SILVER SCREEN AWARD
· 2008 Recipient of the Excellence in Innovation Award (Mumbai: Feb 2008) – one of the most prestigious innovation awards in Asia.
· Member of an international steering committee to research the possible integration of the two disciplines — Creativity and Innovation (2009)
· Worked with national and international sports teams since 1993
· Invited as a co-author to contribute to the trendsetting book on 21st century innovation “The future of innovation” (London; March 2009) — coining the phrase. “Innovation of the mind without innovating the heart is no innovation at all”
· Gave the opening keynote at the European Creativity and Innovation Conference (ECCI) – Belgium October 2009; acknowledged as one of the most prestigious keynote platforms in the world
· Member of the International Innovation Alliance – a group of 7 innovators from five continents – all international ‘innovation reward recipients’ The most prestigious innovation expert group in the world.
· “Dr. Kobus Neethling is one of the top 3 speakers in the world on the topics of creativity and innovation” — as quoted in the programme of the 12th European Conference on Creativity and innovation (Sept 2011)
· Recipient of the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship Award (Rotary International — 2015; previous recipients include Miriam Makeba and Nelson Mandela)

In 2018 Forbes quoted Dr. Deep Bali and included NBI (Neethling Brain Instrument) as one of the 11 assessments every executive should take
“ Neethling Brain Instrument (NBI), based on “whole brain thinking,” is by far the most enabling and validated assessment for individuals, focusing on the eight dimensions of thinking. The report highlights an individual’s preferred thinking style and informs them of methods to nurture the dimensions less used, therefore driving an individual to activate the whole brain for maximum impact.”