Problem-Solving Preferences of Evalpreneurs: Key Findings from My Dissertation and Implications for Evaluation Practice by Nicolas Uwitonze

Date: Thursday, September 4, 2025

Hello, AEA365 community! Liz DiLuzio here, Lead Curator of the blog. This week is Individuals Week, which means we take a break from our themed weeks and spotlight the Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources and Lessons Learned from any evaluator interested in sharing. Would you like to contribute to future individuals weeks? Email me at AEA365@eval.org with an idea or a draft and we will make it happen.

Hello, my name is Dr Nicolas Uwitonze, and I’m a recent graduate of Virginia Tech (May 2025), where my research explored evalpreneurship through a cognitive lens using Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation (A-I) theory and the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI). Building on Dr. Nina Sabarre’s pioneering work in this emerging field, I focused on a unique and understudied group of leaders—entrepreneurs in the evaluation marketplace, known as “evalpreneurs.”

In a previous blog post, I provided an overview of my dissertation and introduced the theoretical framework employed. This blog highlights key findings from the first objective of my study, which examined how evalpreneurs’ behavioral characteristics, as informed by their KAI scores, vary between more adaptive and more innovative individuals.

Cool Tricks

What methodology did I use to study the problem-solving styles of evalpreneurs in the US?

• My study employed a qualitative research design, informed by quantitative data collected through a demography survey and the Kirton Adaption-Innovation (KAI) Inventory—a validated psychometric tool used to assess individual problem-solving styles along a continuum from adaptive to innovative. A purposive sample of 22 U.S.-based evalpreneurs completed the KAI, with scores ranging from 78 to 150, reflecting a wide range of cognitive diversity. The average score was 107.86, with eight participants classified as more adaptive and 14 as more innovative in their preferred problem-solving style.
• Based on their Kai scores, I conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of six adaptive and eight innovative evalpreneurs to explore their lexperiences. Using a phenomenographic approach, this qualitative phase examined variations in how both adaptive and innovative evalpreneurs perceive and navigate problem-solving, integrate their multiple identity and coping strategies within evaluation consulting. The interview protocol prompted reflection on their problem-solving styles and the influence of their KAI scores on their understanding of their professional identity

Implications for evaluation practice

1. Adaptive and innovative problem-solving styles respond to market disruption differently. 
   • Adaptive evalpreneurs may respond to market disruption by reinforcing trusted practices and meeting existing funder requirements efficiently, providing a sense of stability in uncertain times
   • Innovative evalpreneurs, on the other hand, often seize disruption as an opportunity to create new offerings, enter emerging markets, or challenge dominant paradigms—including those rooted in white supremacy and traditional power structures (Shalwani & Dossa, 2023). Their willingness to innovate may lead to entirely new models of evaluation that better reflect one’s values, knowledge, style, or other preferences.
2. Understanding whether a leader or their team is more adaptive or innovative adds practical value for them, clients, collaborators, and funders. As one innovative evalpreneur mentioned in an interview
3. Differing problem-solving styles can complement each other for business success, as one adaptive evalpreneur (KAI=78) noted in interviews:

• Professional development of evaluation professionals may include capacity building on problem-solving leadership, leading teams, and leading change through KAI. As an example, an estudy workshop on Practical Applications of KAI in Evaluation Practice. Can be accessed on demand at American Evaluation Association (AEA).
• Knowledge of KAI helps leaders of evaluation teams and other collaborative relationships to increase self-awareness of their own preferred styles and others, which improves the ability to work within diverse teams, improving collaboration and ensuring that their cognitive strengths are utilized effectively. Teams can also benefit from using the KAI to balance adaptive and innovative preferences across roles, hiring and formation of evaluation teams

Rad Resources

• Exploring the applicability of KAI in evalpreneurship: A pilot study with Intention2Impact. https://hdl.handle.net/10919/126242
• To read my dissertation study: https://hdl.handle.net/10919/134999
• AEA’s estudy workshop on Practical Applications of KAI in Evaluation Practice.
• Kirton, M. J. (2011). Adaption-innovation: In the context of diversity and change. Routledge.
• In need to connect, collaborate, or a consultant visit Nicolas Uwitonze’s VT expert Profile

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