A Workshop: Problem-Solving Styles through Adaption-Innovation Theory and Air Force Athletics

The purpose of this project was to enhance team collaboration by addressing diversity in problem-solving within Air Force Athletics. To achieve this, I collaborated with a KAI-certified master practitioner to design a workshop based on Adaption-Innovation theory (Kirton, 1976; 2003). Before the workshop, each team member of a certain department within Air Force Athletics completed the KAI inventory to determine their position on the KAI continuum. During the workshop, participants explored the principles of the KAI framework and interpreted their scores. By doing this, they gained insights into their individual problem-solving styles. Using their KAI scores, we created scenarios illustrating how the team collectively approaches challenges. The workshop fostered awareness of team dynamics and encouraged members to leverage their diverse cognitive styles for improved collaboration. By applying KAI theory, the team can enhance creativity and productivity by aligning with the framework’s emphasis on effective problem-solving in diverse groups (Kirton, 2003).