|
 |
Conation and Kolbe Technology:
What It Is and What It Isn’t
That the mind has three distinct parts is the “wisdom of the ages.” The philosophers Plato and Aristotle spoke of the three faculties through which we think, feel, and act. Augustine had the same concept. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the trilogy of the mind was the accepted classification of mental activities throughout Germany, Scotland, England, and America. In William McDougall’s Outline of Psychology (1923) he wrote “But it is generally admitted that all mental activity has these three aspects, cognitive, affective, and conative.”
Distinguished psychology historian Edward Hoffman (2000) has extensively researched Kathy Kolbe’s insights into conation. Hoffman traces the history of the concept of conation back for several centuries. He notes that Kolbe’s work identifies how people solve problems instinctively, in ways unrelated to their cognitive or affective levels.
Three Parts of the Mind
Cognitive – Thinking
I’ll think about it.Affective – Feeling
I feel the time frame is not fair and I want more time.Conative - Doing
I need time to make a good decision.
You can think about doing something (cognitive), and you can really want to make something happen (affective), but it is only when you take action (conative) that anything gets done. The Kolbe A™ Index is not an IQ test. It is not a personality, or social styles, or temperament inventory. Instead, it identifies and measures how a person naturally makes decisions, solves problems, and in general gets things done. As one industrial psychologist reported, “It is all so positive.”
The Kolbe technology is not biased for age, gender, national origin, religious preference, or disability.
Recent research at Arizona State University shows over 95% of the people who retake the Kolbe A™ Index as long as 20 years later, have a score that does not change.
Richard Deems, PhD, and Sandra Brownfield Deems, MKC, have used the Kolbe technology |
- Does not identify weaknesses.
- Does not suggest to people that there is something wrong within them that should be fixed.
- Does not tell people how smart (cognitive) they are.
- Does not rate individual talents on scales of better or worse, more or less important, or any other value (affective) assessment.
- Does not identify Introvert or Extrovert temperament preferences (affective).
- Does not suggest that one person is more likely to succeed in life than another.
- Does not assess what a person can or cannot do.
What the Kolbe technology does …
- Identifies the instincts that drive a person’s NATURAL behaviors.
- Describes a person’s MO.
- Focuses on strengths – the natural ways people strive to get things done.
- Quantifies the stress a person will suffer if not given the freedom to operate according to individual natural strengths (needs).
- Assesses the obstacles to freedom of operation, which may be imposed by self or others.
- Provides prescriptive coaching actions for the individual to maximize natural strengths, and minimize obstacles.
- Provides management tools for identifying and reducing job-related obstacles to high performance.
- Provides management tools for identifying actions to facilitate high performance
- Identifies team structures for synergistic, high performance, actions.
- Forms teams with high probability of goal attainment and sustained forward movement.
- Coaches teams on how to enhance performance.
- Coaches team leaders and team members on the importance of respecting and empowering unique individual contributions of natural abilities.
- Provides management tools for reducing obstacles to high performance.
- Shows people how to be more productive by fully using their natural talents.
Applications of the Kolbe Technology
Leadership
Development
Effectiveness
Leading others for high performance
Executive/Management Leadership development
Leading, not managing or directing
How to accommodate MOs for high performance
Teaming
Team formation – 90% probability of goal attainment, sustained forward movement
Team development
Assessment of why a team isn’t working, and how to fix it
Developing trust, communication, and resolving conflict
Show teams how to commit to action and reach goals on schedule
Change Management
Developing support for organizational change
Communication – providing the information people need in the way they need it
Merging organizational cultures
Accommodating the different ways people respond to organizational change
Showing people how to make change work
Selection
Identifying skills needed to be successful in a particular position
Identifying words to use in ads to attract viable candidates
Identifying the natural strengths of candidates
Matching candidates with the right job
Identifying high potential employees
Leadership Assessment/Organizational Audit
Identifying the natural strengths of an organization and/or its leadership
Clarifying workplace culture
Comparing existing natural talents with those needed for a high performance organization
Having the right MOs to make happen what needs to happen
Workplace Culture Change
All of the above – to clarify, describe, and develop the preferred workplace culture!
2012 WorkLife Design ~ All Rights Reserved
Website developed by Renewed Web Presence