In this issue
"Conation" = Ugly Word?
Kathy Kolbe reports: Recently Dr.
Karen Gerdes and I spent a day discussing our work
with two neuropsychologists known for their
identification of neural paths within the young child's
brain. They were intrigued with our work, but "hated"
the word "conation."
"No one we've talked to in brain science likes the
word," they said. "You should find a better one."
People often fear or don't like things they don't
understand - especially experts confronted with a term
they don't know… that's in their field of
study… that
turns out to be a time-honored, "correct" word.
Conation is not a pretty word (like "ceremony") or one
that "says" what it is (like "concoction"
or "combustion"), and it is much too similar
to "cognitive" to avoid confusion. Perhaps it would go
down easier to talk about the "cone" in our heads -
great graphics, too.
Or, why not do to "conation" what the
modern-usage folk have done to words like "disrespect"
and simply "dis" it (without really dissing it)?
After all, we no longer shout, "Let's co-terminate this
conversation!" We simply "end" the discussion.
Quick Links...
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Greetings!
The newsletter is back!
Many of you have reminded us that it's been too long
since you've heard from us via the InSite newsletter.
While we're never too busy to communicate with you,
we haven't done it in writing lately.
However, we have been in contact
with more licensed consultants than ever before
through our
Certified Consultant Center on the Web
and by delivering a record amount of training over the
last few months.
Also keeping us busy and out in the field are a
substantial number of educational initiatives. You'll find
out more about those
below. So, take a moment to read on and enjoy the
news!
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Quote of the Month
"We use gut instinct a little bit like scientific
principle, where we've got a hypothesis -- a spark that
comes from gut instinct -- and we'll try to validate it
with teachers, children, and parents. If there's a big
difference between our research and our instinct, it
sends up a red flag. Many times we find the instinct
was correct, but that in the research, the vision didn't
come through well enough. Other companies might walk
away. When we've got a great feeling about a product,
we don't walk away."
- Tom Prichard, Vice president for marketing at
LeapFrog,
an educational toy company in Emeryville, Calif.
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Nationwide Study of Junior High ADD/ADHD Students Under Way
Professor Karen Gerdes, a professor in the College of
Public Policy at Arizona State University, is coordinating
a nationwide study of
junior
high school students in numerous schools across the
U.S. and Canada to analyze the link between results on
Kolbe Youth Indexes and students being
labeled ADD/ADHD and/or learning disabled.
"Initial trends indicate that students with perfectly
wonderful talents for building Implementor models,
taking Quick Start risks, and being highly adaptive
multi-taskers (preventive in Follow Thru) are far more
likely to be seen in a negative light than be recognized
for these talents," reports the Conative Center's CEO,
Kathy Kolbe. "It's what our case studies have been
showing for years. This highly quantitative,
independent data will help us open others' eyes to an
inappropriate reaction to natural abilities."
Dr. Gerdes is finding great cooperation in
many public, private, and charter schools that are
testing more than 2000 students for the study, which
will be published within a few months.
"We welcome the involvement of additional schools
anywhere in the English- or French-speaking world,"
Gerdes says, "as long as they are willing to adhere to
the strict standards we have established for gathering
impartial and confidential data."
Dr. Gerdes may be reached at kegerdes@asu.edu
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Incredible Marketing Opportunity for You
You don't need to be an initiating Fact Finder to come
up with this one as the research has already been done
for you. The prestigious Aberdeen Group (check them
out at
http://www.aberdeen.com/about_us/) issued a
report earlier
this year on the growing use of assessment instruments
for pre-screening job candidates in the U.S.
The crux of the report may be found in three summary
pages, but to bottom-line it, here are a couple of
critical components:
•72% of companies plan to use pre-hire
assessments in the next 12 months.
•81% of large companies cite behavioral
assessments as being very important.
Kolbe licensees have the RightFit program
already designed to meet these needs, so you're ready
to walk in the door and present your solutions. A
critical need, however, is to use the RightFit program
fully and correctly, as 82% of those interviewed for this
study cite the ability to address hiring compliance
issues as key to selecting a test. In other words, you
have to be able to defend the validity and reliability of
the assessment instruments used and to certify
compliance to all EEOC requirements.
Once again, Kolbe Corp has already done that for you,
so the path is prepared. Please give us your feedback
on this opportunity. Let us know how you're addressing
it and the reaction you get in the marketplace.
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Good Team Synergy - No Problem?
One question frequently asked is: "How can a team
with good Synergy still have problems?" The numbers
in a recent scenario were 21% preventive energy and
26% initiating energy, nicely bridged with 53% of
accommodative response in the middle. This was
virtually right at the kind of bell-curve balance that
defines "ideal Synergy."
Synergy is based on the balance of energy available in
each Zone of Operation (across all of the Action
Modes�). There is a good mix of overall initiation of
effort, responsiveness and putting on the brakes.
That's the good news.
But, the rest of the picture from a Kolbe perspective
could look awful. In the case under discussion, we had
a team of eight people with 100% Inertia in initiating
Fact Finder! If this group of people actually worked
collaboratively, they would be wasting a lot of time and
effort. "Analysis paralysis" would prevail; meetings
would go overlong; discussions would lead to more
discussions, which would lead to more data
gathering.... Those who initiate in Follow Thru or Quick
Start also initiate in Fact Finder, so they will not put a
stop to (prevent) the excessive "nit picking" that goes
on.
Couple this situation with Inertia in the accommodating
zone in both Follow Thru and Quick Start and the
problem is compounded. It would now take someone
outside the group to get them to respond to either
innovation or to an effort to design a new system. This
means there's a lot of waiting around for someone else
to introduce something new or develop a plan.
Lack of Synergy is painful. Having good Synergy
helps your group sense that things are going well.
Inertia is an often hidden obstacle to productivity
because it feels so good to agree on so much of the
process of problem solving. So, the answer is that
productivity starts with good Synergy but can be
derailed by other factors such as Inertia. And, we
haven't even mentioned the damage that Polarization
can do to team dynamics. You have to do the full Kolbe
diagnostic to get your hands around all the factors in
play.
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