People spend countless hours searching for the perfect productivity system. New planners, morning routines, time-management strategies, and work habits all promise a better way to get things done. But what happens when the problem is not a lack of motivation or discipline, but simply trying to work in a way that does not match your natural instincts?
That is the idea behind Natural Advantage™, a digital assessment experience from Kolbe Corp designed to give people a first glimpse into their instinctive strengths and the natural way they take action.
“Most people spend their lives trying to change how they work,” says David Kolbe, CEO of Kolbe Corp. “Natural Advantage gives you a first glimpse of how you’re wired to take action — so you can stop fighting your instincts and start trusting them.”
Exploring the “Doing” Part of the Mind
For decades, people have used intelligence assessments to explore how they think and personality assessments to better understand how they feel or what they prefer. Kolbe Corp focuses on another area: conation, or the instinctive way a person takes action.
Founded in 1975 by Kathy Kolbe, Phoenix-based Kolbe Corp has spent more than 50 years researching and applying the concept of conative strengths. Its flagship Kolbe A™ Index has been taken by millions of people and used within business, education, and family settings.
Natural Advantage™ takes this established methodology and introduces it through a more accessible digital experience.
Rather than labeling personality traits or evaluating intelligence, Natural Advantage is designed to reveal a key instinctive strength related to how someone naturally solves problems and gets things done.
36 Questions and a New Perspective on Productivity
Natural Advantage is a fully digital, web-based assessment that works on desktop and mobile devices. Users answer 36 questions in approximately 10 to 15 minutes and receive an instant individualized result.
The experience is powered by the methodology behind the Kolbe A Index, Kolbe Corp’s validated assessment of conative strengths. Results highlight a key strength connected to one of the four Kolbe Action Modes® and may include accessible descriptions such as “Idea-Generating Powerhouse,” “Hands-On Hero,” or “Chaos Controller.”
More importantly, the experience is designed to go beyond simply providing a label.
Each result explains how that particular strength may appear in daily life and offers practical guidance a person can begin applying to the way they plan, approach projects, and manage their energy. Users can also share and compare results with friends, family members, or colleagues.
There are no “good” or “bad” Natural Advantage results. The concept is built around recognizing genuine strengths and understanding how an individual’s natural method of taking action may differ from someone else’s.
Stop Forcing Productivity Systems That Do Not Fit
One of the challenges with traditional approaches to productivity is the assumption that the same strategy should work for everyone. A highly structured system may feel natural to one person and unnecessarily restrictive to another. Someone may thrive when experimenting with multiple possibilities, while someone else naturally seeks clarity and specific information before moving forward.
Natural Advantage offers language for understanding these differences.
Instead of encouraging people to change their instincts, Kolbe’s approach centers on identifying and working with them. The goal is to help individuals recognize where they may be creating unnecessary friction by repeatedly forcing themselves into methods that feel unnatural.
As David Kolbe explains, “The most productive people aren’t working harder — they’re working the way they’re built. Natural Advantage shows you how you’re built.”
Five Decades of Research, Now More Accessible
Natural Advantage is the latest offering from a company with a long history in the psychometric field. Kolbe Corp marked its 50th anniversary in 2025, and its methodology has been used by organizations including Charles Schwab, Microsoft, Campbell’s, and Hershey’s.
CEO David Kolbe is also a third-generation leader in psychometrics. His grandfather, E.F. Wonderlic, developed the Wonderlic® Test of cognitive ability, while his mother, Kathy Kolbe, created the Kolbe A™ Index. David helped develop the original algorithm behind the Kolbe A™ Index and later co-authored “Do More, More Naturally” with Kolbe Corp President Amy Bruske.
That same philosophy of amplifying what naturally comes easily, rather than constantly forcing mismatched habits, is central to Natural Advantage.
A First Glimpse at Your Instinctive Strengths
Natural Advantage is designed as an introduction to Kolbe’s broader methodology. While the experience reveals one key instinctive strength, users interested in a more complete view can explore the full Kolbe A Index, which examines strengths across all four Action Modes® and provides additional insights related to energy, communication, and work.
For people who have already explored how they think and what shapes their personality, Natural Advantage introduces a different question: How are you naturally wired to act?
Written in partnership with Tom White
