We are using Kolbe Index scores to assess our leadership team, and our new Head of Product has a low Follow Thru and high Quickstart, which is causing him to abandon systems in favor of rapid changes. How do we realign his seat on the Accountability Chart to match his conative strengths?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leader has a high Quickstart and low Follow Thru on the Kolbe Index, they are naturally wired to initiate change and innovate rapidly. However, they will naturally resist building, maintaining, or adhering to rigid systems. If they are in a Head of Product seat, this can lead to a chaotic product road map and frustrated developers.

You cannot change a person's conative wiring; trying to force them to become highly structured will only cause burnout. Instead, you must adjust the roles on your Accountability Chart to accommodate their natural strengths.

Keep the Head of Product focused on vision, customer feedback, and defining product requirements. Then, create a Product Operations or Program Manager seat that reports directly to them. This supporting seat must be occupied by someone with high Follow Thru conative traits.

The Program Manager's roles will include managing the actual development sprints, maintaining documentation, and enforcing process compliance. By pairing these two distinct seats, you create a powerful combination: one person generates the creative ideas, while the other builds the systems to execute them. This structural alignment allows your business to innovate rapidly while maintaining the operational discipline that buyers value.