The Kolbe Assessment Changed My Life, Here’s How
It’s probably the Cosmopolitan-Girl-reading-90’s-girlie in me, but I am a sucker for an archetype-finding quiz. “Mostly C’s” and you are a California Girl at heart, you know the kind.
The Career version of the archetype-finding quiz is a personality assessment, and the overachiever-girlie in me is a sucker for these too.
Enneagram? 3.
Myers Briggs? ENFJ.
DiSC Assessment? Di.
Clifton’s Strength’s Finder? Activator, Competitor, Futurist.
Kolbe Assessment? High: Fact Finder, High Quick Start. Low: Follow Through, Implementor.
While all of these assessments have there place and I’ve learned something through all of them, taking the Kolbe and learning my results, alongside an executive coach, changed my life.
What is the Kolbe Assessment
“The Kolbe A Index is a 36-question assessment that measures how you instinctively take action and get things done. It measures your conative strengths, which are the instinctive talents that drive your actions and approach to productivity. Your result is a 4-number code called your MO (method of operation).”
That’s a bunch of corporate mumbo jumbo, so here’s my translation based on how it was framed to me: When you are a kid, you become a righty or a lefty at some point in your development. That’s just it, you’re a righty or a lefty. There’s nothing good or bad about it, it just is. Well the Kolbe measures something similar — how you instinctively get shit done. Some people need a lot of data before they can begin work on something, others need none at all (Fact Finder). Some people feel the need to see a project to completion, simply because they started, and other’s are totally fine abandoning work that no longer serves the intended purpose or desired outcome (Follow Through). Some people are quick to get started on something even if they don’t have a plan, others require a plan and a well-defined finish line to get work underway (Quick Start). Some folks are great in the abstract, non-physical space when problem-solving, while others prefer to work with their hands to create something (Implementor). Everyone has their own MO, stronger in some areas, weaker in others.
In the career setting, we show up with our own MO and others show up with theirs. Sometimes when working collaboratively, these MO’s clash. Have you ever been on a group project and you’re fired up, ready to rock, and someone else just can’t get on board? Perhaps you are high Quick Start, and they are high Fact Finder. While you can’t control your innate desire to f***ing gooooooo, they can’t control their innate need for more facts before they can even think about beginning work in any capacity whatsoever.
When these clashes happen, they can create unnecessary friction and delays, simply because we are often blind to our MO, and that means we are most certainly blind to the MO’s of our collaborators.
I was so lucky to work with a leader who had our entire team take the Kolbe, and then not only did we work 1-1 with an executive coach as we navigated the inevitable challenges of our day to day work, but we also did what I can only describe as group Kolbe therapy! We would bring an initiative we were planning to get underway to ‘group therapy’ and each of us would have to display our Kolbe’s on screen as we discussed our roles, responsibilities, and key outcomes for the initiative. Our coach would guide and point out key milestones in the project plan, helping us identify where one of our team members could likely bring their Kolbe strengths to the table to help us get a better result, faster. As we wrapped group therapy/project planning sessions, we’d walk away both appreciative of our team member’s strengths, as well as, ready to goooooo with a project plan that met the needs of everyone in the group!
What is my Kolbe Result
My result and how I’ve interpreted them for myself is:
High: Fact Finder — I love data, and I need facts to feel comfortable getting started. This can actually paralyze me from taking action altogether. Sometimes I find myself getting ready to get ready, because that mode feels like home to me. It’s just how I am wired.
High: Quick Start — I am the energizer bunny when it comes to new ideas and fresh starts. If you’re looking for steps 1, 2, and 3, I got you. Shit, by the time you ask for my perspective on things, I probably already started a doc, shared it with you, leveraged a framework I am familiar with, started filling things in, and tagging you in comments where your input is necessary. If you want to get something underway, I’m your girl. It’s just how I am wired.
Low: Follow Through — I am NOT the energizer bunny when it comes to projects that drone on, require effort that I think could be spent on other pursuits, require an unnecessary amount of politicking in order to get done, or that I frankly just get bored of. If you are looking for someone who will guarantee that something gets done, just for the sake of getting done, do not, I repeat, do not make me your #1 draft pick. It’s just how I am wired.
Low: Implementor — I am NOT good with my hands. If you want to build a house, good on you. I can offer my insanely good project planning skills, emailing and relationship building skills, negotiation skills, and more. You want me to actually help you build the frame, saw the lumber, and use a nail gun? The only thing I can guarantee you of is that I will be your dumb labor. I am a work horse and you can put me to work on stuff like demolition, lifting heavy objects, etc. You do not want me doing the measuring, cutting, building, etc. It’s just how I am wired.
When my Kolbe result was interpreted for me the first time, I was like HOLY HELL. I have never felt so seen in my life, how does this crazy ass 36 question survey know me so well?!?!!? It finally made sense why I had read >100 personal development and entrepreneurship books before deciding to try my hand at building a business and then: started Chicago Fill Up, changed course to Chicago Date Box, before deciding to do ManifestHer instead, which we wound down and then turned into PM School, which then became Allowlist, which I felt like I couldn’t keep up after having Charlie. Can you say High Fact Finder + High Quick Start + Low Follow Through one more time for the people in the back???
But for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel shame around the journey. This is just how I am wired, and until I had my Kolbe result, I didn’t know that my journey had a direct correlation with my MO. It made so much sense in light of these results.
How did the Kolbe Assessment / My Kolbe Result Change My Life
Okay, so I am sure you’re wondering now, how did this change my life outside of what I’ve already shared? Just wait. This is the best. part.
Learning my Kolbe Result changed my life by lifting the veil of my own ignorance to my MO and as a result helping me catch myself when I am unconsciously MO’ing, doing things or thinking about things that are in reality just procrastination or self-sabotage masquerading as good uses of my time, energy, and money.
That was a windy sentence ^ so let me put it more plainly.
Situation: As annoying as this may sound to some, pretty much every time I get in the shower, I come up with a new business idea.
Before Kolbe: Before Kolbe, I would jet home, build an excel file (example) with the idea, business plan, revenue model, team, creative etc. and then buy the domain on Squarespace, get the instagram handle, and gush to Ronnie about how this was going to be the next big thing for our family.
After Kolbe: I open my notes doc on my phone, write down my idea, and anything that initially came to mind. I do not buy the squarespace domain or get the insta handle, and when I get home, I channel my exciting energy into giving Ronnie a big hug and telling him how much I love him.
Result: Less time wasted forcing myself to build business models for businesses that I will never start (10 hours per idea), less money wasted buying domains (let’s say about ~$200/year), less of my own energy and Ronnie’s energy wasted discussing pipe dreams that I have no real desire to follow through on.
My unruly fact-finder, quick-start lioness who used to run with wild abandon has been leashed, and tamed. She is still there, very much so, and she’s ready to run with wild abandon whenever I say go… but now, now I have control over when I tell her “go” and when I tell her “stay” and dear god, has that been life-changing.
But here’s the other life-changing part of all of this. I am LOW LOW LOW on Follow Through and Implementor. These are not my strong muscles when it comes to getting shit done or staying in action around most things… but you know what? There are things that I naturally follow through with. There are things that are very much physical that I naturally really enjoy. I do them because I just do them, it’s how I am wired.
That was a windy sentence ^ so let me put it more plainly.
Implementor
Situation: I love to cook.
Before Kolbe: I knew I liked the process of cooking, but I didn’t know exactly why.
After Kolbe: I realize that even though I am low implementor, this is an area of my life that brings me a ton of joy, and eating is necessary, so if you’re going to have to eat, might as well enjoy the process and outcome of it all! Cooking, to me, is a creative endeavor, it requires finding facts, getting started, and then in <60 mins you generally have a delicious, edible creation. As Stanley Tucci puts it “edible art” that you can serve to the people you love.
Result: I now take notice of the areas in my life where I naturally have an interest in the physicality of it all. Cooking and everything you get to touch and smell when making food. Scrapbooking and how fun it is to revisit memories in the form of physical photos and memorialize life through the pages of albums. Music, and how it feels to breathe life to an object like a guitar by strumming a song. Cleaning, and how glorious it feels to exist in a clean space that smells the exact way you like it to. Working with my hands in the physical world requires a different level of being present, and its in this presence that I lose myself in the activity in a really beautiful way. The more I seek out experiences like cooking where I can lose myself in time and space, the happier I am. Just ask cooking didn’t always come easy to me, but it’s a skill I built up, I now intentionally seek out new physical world skills that I can learn to enjoy.
Follow Through
Situation: I love to write.
Before Kolbe: For as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve loved to write, some of my earliest memories include me, being a kid, opening a word document on the computer and trying to write fiction books. Main character was always a girl named Cali. She was that girl. To this day, when I have a day off work, you can’t keep me away from my computer, or journal. I love to write.
After Kolbe: I realized that even though I am low on follow through, writing is just part of me. You can’t take the writer out of me. I have always loved to write, and I will always love to write. Therefore, projects that involve writing, might be projects that I naturally follow through on. Even though I didn’t know about my Kolbe MO until after I had already published ManifestHer, I think it’s really interesting that of all the projects that I’ve started and abandoned in my life, I saw ManifestHer through… Imagine that. A girl with now follow through skills, following through. Now that’s an identity! I am a writer.
Result: I now take notice of the areas in my life where I naturally follow through, and I take great joy in recognizing those identities! I love to move my body, you can’t take that out of me. I am a mover. I love to read books and listen to podcasts, you can’t take that out of me. I am a reader! I love to write, you can’t take that out of me, I am a writer.
Knowing what you’re good at is really powerful. Knowing what you’re not so good at is also really powerful. But one of the most powerful things from the Kolbe was finding out what I am not good at, but then finding the things that I do anyway within those buckets. Those have pointed me to many exciting pursuits and have really made how I approach life a whole lot better.
What To Do Next
If this post resonated with you, I’d recommend you take the Kolbe Assessment and potentially even hire someone to take you through your results and coach you for a few months. Let them into your work and personal life and watch as they hold up the mirror to you on your MO. If you don’t feel like hiring a coach, that’s totally fine, here are a few questions I would ask you to journal into.
What is my Kolbe Result?
Where are there instances of my Kolbe strengths running with wild abandon and actually need reining in?
Where are there instances of my Kolbe weaknesses doing really great work that I haven’t ever acknowledged, and what might this be telling me about me?
What opportunities do I have to keep my Kolbe MO front and center in my approach to life, decision-making, work, and finding the right collaborators for my pursuits?
You Got This!
I hope you enjoyed reading this and if you decide to pursue your Kolbe result you tell me how it goes for you.
Xo!
