Our leadership team has high cognitive diversity, but we struggle to execute because our conative styles are completely misaligned. How do we use the Kolbe A Index during our quarterly planning to balance our execution styles?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team struggles to execute, the problem is rarely a lack of intelligence or commitment. It is usually a conative clash. While cognitive tests tell you what a person knows, and personality tests show how they behave, the Kolbe A™ Index measures how they instinctively take action when solving problems.

During your quarterly planning, you can map your leadership team members on a shared Kolbe grid. Look closely at the four Action Modes: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor. If your team is packed with high Fact Finders who score an eight or higher, they will naturally demand exhaustive information and proof before taking action. This can lead to analysis paralysis. On the other hand, if you have a team of high Quick Starts who score a nine, they will constantly pitch new ideas and pivot, creating chaos and leaving projects half-finished.

To balance your execution, assign Rocks based on conative strengths. If a major initiative requires building a systematic, repeatable process, it must be led by someone with a high Follow Thru score. If an initiative requires rapid experimentation in a highly uncertain environment, assign it to a high Quick Start.

Recognize that every strength has a shadow side. Use your Level 10 Meeting™ sessions to call out these conative differences. When a high Fact Finder is slowing down a project, do not view them as stubborn. Understand they simply need more data to act, and agree on the minimum viable information required to move forward.