About My Research on Evalpreneurship and Problem-solving Leadership through Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation (A-I) Theory by Nicolas Uwitonze

Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025

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Hello, my name is Dr Nicolas Uwitonze, a recent graduate of Virginia Tech (May 2025) and now an independent consultant. My research explored the intersection of evaluation and entrepreneurship (Evalpreneurship) and problem-solving leadership, using a cognitive approach grounded in Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation (A-I) theory and the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI).

In this blog post, I’ll provide a brief overview of my dissertation and introduce the KAI—what it is, how it works, and why it matters. In upcoming posts, I’ll share key findings from my research and explore their implications for both the theory and practice of evaluation.

What Was My Dissertation Research About? A Brief Overview

My study focused on the understudied leaders of evaluation business(es), known as “evalpreneurs”, following Dr. Nina Sabarre’s pioneering research on evalpreneurship in 2021 who explored the role of evaluation entrepreneurs in influencing the supply and demand of evaluation. Situated within this emerging field, the research adopted a cognitive lens, using Kirton’s (2011) A-I theory of problem-solving as its theoretical framework. Conceptually, the study was also guided by the Organismic Social Behavioral Perspective (OSBP) developed by Anderson et al. (2018), which integrates Kirton’s cognitive function schema and is rooted in Bandura’s social cognitive theory.

Employing a qualitative research design grounded in phenomenography, this study explored the lived experiences of evalpreneurs in the United States. It examined both the similarities and differences in their problem-solving preferences, coping behavior and expressed identity. Additionally, the research investigated how evalpreneurs’ multiple expressed identities influence their collaborative relationships in evaluation consulting—specifically, whether these identities are well-integrated (indicating high identity integration) or in conflict (reflecting low identity integration).

An Overview of Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation Theory and the KAI Inventory

• In 1961, British psychologist Dr. Michael Kirton began studying how individuals solve problems within organizations. He concluded that problem-solving is central to life and that everyone engages in it, though in different ways. This led to the development of the A-I theory, which explains how people approach change and problem-solving.
• • According to A-I theory, individuals fall on a continuum from adaptive to innovative. Adaptive individuals prefer structured environments, incremental improvements, and working within existing systems. In contrast, innovative individuals favor unstructured settings, radical change, and challenging the status quo (Kirton, 2011).
• To measure these styles, Kirton developed the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) in 1976—a 32-item psychometric measure. The KAI has consistently demonstrated strong reliability and validity, and it remains widely used across many sectors and research.
• KAI measures a person’s preferred problem-solving style, focusing on their cognitive approach rather than their skill level, experience, motivation, or behavior (Friedel, 2014)

Hot Tips

Why Does It Matter? Why I Studied the Problem-Solving Styles of Evalpreneurs

1. Evalpreneurs are not simply evaluation practitioners — they are entrepreneurial actors who actively influence the supply and demand of evaluation services in the marketplace (Sabarre, 2021).
2. As problem-solving leaders, evalpreneurs operate in complex, dynamic environments. Understanding whether they approach problems in adaptive or innovative ways offers valuable insight into how they lead, collaborate, promote social change, and respond to evolving client needs and uncertainty — including political shifts, market disruptions, social and organizational change.
3. While entrepreneurs are often perceived as inherently innovative, research shows that they can also be adaptive or in the middle of A-I continuum (Previde & Kirton, 2021).
4. My study aimed to examine where evalpreneurs fall on the adaptive–innovative continuum, and what this means for evaluation practice. Gaining insight into their cognitive styles can inform how we build evaluation teams, support leadership development, and design strategies that align with different problem-solving preferences.

Rad Resources

• Explore more about my Doctoral dissertation
• In need of connecting, collaborate, or KAI & Evaluation consultant, see My VT expert Profile

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