Michael Kirton, DSc, 1926 – 2020

The Jesuits were so impressed with his sharp mind, that they offered to sponsor his training him as a Jesuit – a rare accolade. He didn’t accept, as he had growing doubts about the existence of God – although he had been a devout Christian up until this time.

In Malta at that time, in the absence of his father, my dad was considered to be ‘the man of the house’ and had to help my mother with ‘manly things’, like negotiate with landlords and such like.

This happened often, as his mother had itchy feet, and moved house at least once a year! Dad quickly became fluent in the lingua franca – Maltese (a variant of old Arabic), adding later some Italian, Greek, French, Modern Arabic and Latin.

He told us that he spent a lot of time listening to adults (including sitting on doorsteps with older Maltese women), observing and assessing how adults behaved – all of this went into a growing memory bank, which shaped his future work. He also formed a long-lasting bond with a friend of his father, who provided a much-needed father-figure and guidance to the young Michael Kirton.

The Siege of Malta and the War

1942 brought a premature end to his education, and at the earliest opportunity he signed up to the Royal Air Force (by lying about his age – he was just 16). The siege had bitten hard, food was in very short supply and there were horrendous and sustained bombing raids throughout the war.

His time in RAF and whilst completing his war service took him to many countries and conflicts. This included Germany immediately after the war, Greece, Italy and the Middle East. He rarely talked about his time in Germany, but we do know these were even more traumatic than the siege and bombardment of Malta. He was among the first troops to open a concentration camp, and also witnessed the mass starvation of the German people, with the backdrop of the Nuremberg Trials. He was deeply shocked by how people can dehumanise others, and by the overt racism and believed superiority within the British ranks – especially towards the defeated Germans. This stayed with him, and influenced his work throughout his life.

His travels during this period allowed him to indulge, and further develop, his passion for history. He visited the deserted Pompeii, an empty Parthenon in Athens, the pyramids in Cairo, and apparently a harem (organised by his batman). All this information being tucked away as useful examples of how teams work to create amazing buildings – almost literally moving mountains. You will find historical examples of problem-solving style littered throughout his teaching – from Chinese proverbs to the discovery & excavation of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber.

1947 – Demobbed and in England

Now demobbed, he had no academic qualifications and needed work. University never crossed his mind – he was from a poor background and no-one from his family had ever had a higher education (his mother went into service at the age of 14). So, he started on the shopfloor with a view to ‘work up the ladder’. He never had a chip on his shoulder about coming from a disadvantaged background, nor was he in awe of people higher up the social stratum. As he was on the autistic spectrum, he tended to ignore differences which would be obvious to others – such as, class, religion, colour – and tended to focus on personality. And this was even before he trained as a psychologist!

1949 – seeking a new life in New Zealand

Looking for a new life, he went to New Zealand, where he worked in the civil service helping new immigrants find suitable jobs. Whilst maintaining his job, he worked part-time on his psychology degree with Victoria University in Wellington.

Once he graduated, he started his MA, working part-time in marketing for a seed export company.

During this time, he assisted his tutor on researching and writing a report on ‘Public Opinion and the United Nations’. His experience in the war was very useful to this project, and his input sufficient to give him joint credit for the completed report.

1956, Back in England – The Acton Society: Where the seeds of KAI were sown

He returned to England to start his PhD – and had his 30th birthday on the boat! The PhD had to be abandoned, but he did become a researcher, then Director, at the Acton Society, which was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, which is a Quaker charity, set up “to analyse the implications of the welfare state for liberty and the individual”.

Management Initiative (1961) was a report compiled by my father for the Acton Society. It represented in-depth analysis of how ideas take hold, are adopted and deployed, are successful or fail, within organisations. This was followed by a number of case studies during 1961 & 1962. These are still used on the KAI accreditation course today and studied by many KAI researchers and enthusiasts for the gems it contains on leadership, teams, management of change and idea generation & adoption.

In 1962, he joined Hertfordshire University as a Reader in Management. Subsequently he established both the Psychology (in close association with the biology department) and Management faculties. Additionally, he was also instrumental in setting up a Student Health Service to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of students at his University – essential during this period (1960s) of huge social change. He also set up a career service for the students.

During this time his worked as a volunteer psychologist in the local mental hospital (Leavesden Hospital). It was in Victorian buildings – with some matching, outdated, treatment. The conditions there appalled him. Amongst other things, my father worked with drug addicts, which he found very upsetting, as so many returned to quickly to their addiction, with often terminal consequences.

The founding of the Occupational Research Centre (ORC), Hertfordshire University

Early in the 1970s, Michael Kirton established the ORC, which was almost entirely funded externally from charities & government grants. Initially, he continued with this interest in careers advice and encouraging 16-18 year-old boys (and then girls) into STEM – something he encouraged me to do. He was disappointed I didn’t become an Astrophysicist, but accepted a degree in Mathematics, as a reasonable runner-up (especially as he thought I would love to become his psychometrician! This didn’t happen, but I still ended up working with him for over 45 years).

This video shows Dr Kirton lecturing.

1976 – the official birth of Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation theory

From that day forward, my father dedicated his life to its theory, research, high standards of ethical use, working with many universities worldwide and our outstanding KAI practitioners. He was passionate about his work – my mother had to stop him trying to go to work on Christmas Day, saying she thought the University would be shut!

He always had at least one PhD student under his wing – even after he stopped working at the University, with multiple pieces of research being undertaken at any one time.

He wrote many research papers himself, and collaborated with others or supervised their PhDs.

To my knowledge, there are at least:

• 2 seminal books
• 36 academic papers written by Dr Kirton
• 350+ academic papers written by others
• 100+ PhD theses

(If you are interested in knowing more – please contact Dr Curtis Friedel or Dr Megan Siebel, guardians of his personal library, which he bequeathed to the Center for Collaborative Problem Solving at Virginia Tech).

He was awarded the DSc by Her Royal Highness, Princess Royal, on behalf of the Council of Academic Awards in the UK – it was an accolade he was very proud of. My mother & I attended the ceremony, and I have never seen a prouder man.

He worked until he was 93 years old – was interviewed by Dr Rob Sheffield in late 2019 – and planned another book to be cowritten with Dr Iwan Jenkins. Iwan will now have to undertake this on his own – to fulfil the last words that my father said to him – ‘publish, good man, publish’!

He passed away peacefully on August 18, 2020, handing over the reins, his legacy, and baby (the KAI) to me.

Addendum – Dr Kirton’s Interests and Passions

• Teaching – he never let an opportunity to teach and educate. If you talk to anyone who even met him briefly, they will tell you, that they learnt from him: whether it was how to make tea properly, the details of the battle of Waterloo, or which was the best Whisky to drink after supper.
• People watching
• History, but with a passion for ancient history & archaeology.
  1. He led an archaeological dig near where I was brought up, Latimer. He excavated a Roman villa in 1963. I was taken down there, as toddler (which I remember) and found a very pretty Roman glass jug.
     Something I have only just found out, was that he co-opted all manner of specialists from Hertfordshire University, but also one young PhD student from Birmingham as the dig director, called Keith Brannigan. Keith went on to become the Professor of Archaeology at Birmingam University.
  2. When my parents lived in London, he worked on a number of digs for the London Museum – the director of the digs was completely unaware that my father wasn’t an historian!