Why Forcing Employees To Work The Same Way Backfires

David Kolbe argues that most organizations are only measuring two-thirds of what drives performance. We assess what people know (skills) and how they tend to behave (personality), but often ignore how they instinctively take action. That missing piece—what Kolbe calls conation—shapes how people gather information, solve problems, make decisions, and navigate uncertainty. In this conversation, David Rice and David Kolbe explore why burnout is often a mismatch problem rather than a motivation problem, why high-performing employees can be the most at risk of quietly disengaging, and why leaders who want better results may need to stop trying to standardize how work gets done and focus more on creating environments where different working styles can thrive. What You’ll Learn: What conation is and how it differs from personality and skills Why operating outside your natural problem-solving style creates fatigue and burnout How organizations mistake process misalignment for performance issues Why cognitively diverse teams often outperform more uniform teams How leaders can design roles around natural strengths instead of capability alone What AI may mean for individual working styles and human contribution Why leadership is shifting from directing work to enabling different ways of achieving outcomes Key Takeaways: Burnout often starts with misalignment, not workload People can perform well for a long time while working against their natural instincts. The result isn’t immediate failure—it’s a slow drain on energy that eventually pushes good people out the door. Capability doesn’t equal fit Just because someone can do a job doesn’t mean they’re the right person for it long-term. Sustainable performance comes from aligning work with how people naturally approach problems. Diverse teams create better outcomes—and more friction Teams benefit when members bring different approaches to gathering information, managing structure, and solving problems. The challenge for leaders is distinguishing productive tension from dysfunction. Stop prescribing every step High standards matter. Rigidly dictating how people must achieve those standards often limits performance. The best leaders focus on outcomes while allowing flexibility in execution. The employees most likely to burn out may be your best performers Committed employees frequently push through poor-fit situations without complaining. By the time leaders notice a problem, those employees may already be planning their exit. AI may make human differences more visible As more repeatable work becomes automated, individual approaches to judgment, creativity, decision-making, and problem-solving could become increasingly important. Leadership is becoming a development role The future leader’s job isn’t simply directing work. It’s understanding how people operate and creating conditions where their strengths can be applied effectively. Chapters: 00:00 — The Missing Third Part of Performance 02:00 — What Is Conation? 05:22 — Burnout by Misalignment 07:24 — Why Different Teams Win 08:25 — The Silent Cost of Commitment 10:35 — Capability vs. Fit 11:46 — Designing Roles Around Strengths 16:08 — The Productivity Trap 18:03 — There's No Single Best Process 19:37 — When Teams Misread Each Other 21:44 — Systems Builders vs. Systems Breakers 24:01 — Quiet Doesn't Mean Disengaged 27:28 — Conation in an AI World 30:10 — Technology Changes Work, Not People 32:00 — Hiring for Natural Fit 36:11 — Stop Fixing People, Fix the System Meet Our Guest: David Kolbe is the CEO of Kolbe Corp, a leading authority in conative strengths and human performance. With more than 28 years at the company, he has been instrumental in advancing the Kolbe Concept® and helped develop the original algorithm behind the Kolbe A™ Index, a widely used assessment for understanding how people instinctively take action. An author, speaker, and thought leader in organizational performance, David works with business leaders around the world to build high-performing teams, unlock innovation, and leverage individual strengths for greater productivity and success. He holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Arizona State University. Related Links: Join the People Managing People Community: https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/free... Connect with David on LinkedIn:   / davidjkolbe   Visit Kolbe Corp: https://www.kolbe.com/ Check out David’s book:  Do More, More Naturally: https://www.amazon.com/Do-More-Natura...