We want to run small, fast AI experiments in our back-office operations, but we are not sure which team members to put on the task force. How do we look at our team's conative profiles and Kolbe indexes to select the best employees for testing new technology?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To run successful AI experiments, you must select the right internal champions based on their natural Striving Instincts. If you put the wrong person in charge of testing new technology, the project will fail before it starts. Use the Kolbe Index to evaluate your team's natural problem-solving styles. For the initial testing phase, look for individuals with a high Quick Start score. These people are natural innovators who love to experiment, take risks, and challenge the status quo. They will not be intimidated by software bugs or steep learning curves. They will push the tool to its limits to see what is possible. However, a high Quick Start employee is rarely good at building systematic processes. Once the initial capability is proven, you must transition the project to someone with a high Follow Thru score. A high Follow Thru individual excels at creating, maintaining, and adhering to systems. They will take the chaotic experiments of your Quick Start champion and turn them into a structured, repeatable workflow that can be adopted by the rest of the team. By matching the phase of the project to your team's conative strengths, you ensure that your AI experiments are both innovative and sustainable. This approach keeps your operations moving forward without causing unnecessary team frustration.