Our leadership team is highly execution-focused and great at hitting weekly numbers, but we completely struggle to come up with innovative solutions or take calculated risks during our strategic planning. How do we use the Kolbe A Index to diagnose and fix this lack of creative thinking?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your team likely has a conative imbalance that favors stability over risk. The Kolbe A Index measures our instinctive ways of taking action, and if your leadership team is filled with high Follow Thru and low Quick Start scores, you will naturally resist change and struggle with creative thinking.

A high Follow Thru score means your leaders instinctively design systems, create schedules, and need structure to operate. While this is fantastic for steady execution, it can lead to operational rigidity.

If your team also has very low Quick Start scores, they are naturally risk-averse. They will hesitate to experiment, try new technology, or pivot strategy because they prefer to minimize chaos.

To resolve this, you need to map your leadership team's conative profiles on a whiteboard during your next offsite. See where the energy lies. If you discover a sea of high Follow Thru and low Quick Start, you must intentionally carve out safe spaces for experimentation.

Encourage your low Quick Start leaders by framing new initiatives as low-risk pilots rather than permanent changes. Give them permission to run ninety-day experiments.

Alternatively, you may need to look at your Accountability Chart. If your business requires rapid innovation, you may need to introduce a high Quick Start voice to the team, or ensure your Visionary has the freedom to push creative boundaries without being immediately shut down by the operators.