The Failure Lab Archetypes
Why Archetypes?
We created the Failure Lab Archetypes because people love a good personality quiz. Seriously? Who doesn’t want to learn more about what makes them tick?
From the Cosmo or Men’s Health magazine quizzes of our collective youths to the Meyers-Briggs test that they make us take at work, learning about how people (ourselves included) think, process information, do the things they do, and what makes them tick is useful and fascinating.
The Failure Archetypes were designed as a tool of self-reflection and communication. They were created as a simple way to put non judgmental language to the behavioral tendencies of yourself and the people around you as it relates to failure responses and tendencies, so that we can more easily begin the conversation around failure.
Making Sense of Yourself and Your Story
We start, as all stories do, at the beginning, with the introduction of a main character. In your life and in your Failure Lab journey, the main character is you. Understanding yourself deeply - understanding the “whys and whats” of your beliefs, values, and behavioral tendencies is the first step at living your most impactful, fulfilled, and intentional life.
It is our belief that all change, big and small, begins with the individual.
The Failure Lab model is not designed to give you a comprehensive diagnostic explanation for any and everything that you have ever done. It is not intended to label or define you. You are a unique individual, composed of a myriad number of inherent, learned, and absorbed traits, and most importantly - the choices that you have and will make as you navigate your life.
The purpose of the Failure Archetype Assessment is to give you starting a place for your journey of self analysis and discovery - a first step in answering the question - "How Do We Change the Conversation Around Failure?"
It is our hope that Failure Lab offerings (events & trainings) and the Failure Lab Archetype model spark thoughtful curiosity into your own instinctual responses to failure, your developed coping skills, and your existing (and to be developed) failure-positive skills.
Failure Lab is about owning your story. It is about self reflection and the journey of self discovery.
Like all personality assessments, the Failure Lab Archetypes are not inherently good or bad. Each is a thumbnail description of a group of tendencies. These emotional and behavioral tendencies can be expressed in both positive and negative ways - depending on a wide range of circumstances.
The body processes failure like any other stressor, through an involuntary sympathetic/autonomic nervous system reaction. This is commonly known as the fight, flight, or freeze response. The Failure Archetypes were crafted based on the science of autonomic nervous system reactivity and the behavior of everyday humans navigating a life containing both successes & failures.
SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE: We are all capable of all of these responses (fight, flight, or freeze). Just as we all have the capacity to display characteristics of any and all of the archetypes, and sometimes more than one or all of them in ONE situation.
The intention of the Failure Archetype model is to bring attention to an individual’s patterns of behavior, so that they might better understand and communicate their reactions and interactions. And with that disclaimer, here is a brief summary of the Failure Archetypes. Which one(s) resonate for you?
The Fight Archetypes
The Warrior
Rooted in physicality and emotion, The Warrior is the passion driven archetype of the "Fight/Action Archetypes." Warriors are intense, charismatic, and passionate. They feel their emotions deeply. Highs are high and lows are low. Warriors can be eruptive under stress, but that intensity is displayed in their joy and love as well.
The Survivalist
Rooted in cognitive action, The Survivalist is the most solution-driven of the six Failure Archetypes. The Survivalist displays its "action first" drive through problem solving. People that have done a lot of self development work and integrated it into their lives will often test high in Survivalist. This is because much development work is focused around moving through emotional reactivity to solution in a healthy way. A strong tendency towards solution can be a productive and healthy trait; however, it also can make Survivalists impatient, as they have limited patience for talk with no action.
The Flight Archetypes
The Happy Denier
The Happy Denier is the peace-keeping, glass-half-full, lemonade-out-of lemons, everything-is-going-to-be-fine Failure Archetype. People that have done a lot of self development work often score high in Happy Denier, as most development strategies are focused on positivity as a core tool. This tendency towards positivity can be healthy and solution driven; however, it can also express as a dismissive "it will be fine" attitude with little/no actionable followup.
The Deflector
Skilled at redirection, The Deflector is the comedian-distractor-subject-changer Failure Archetype. Charming, often funny, and a master at both savvy avoidance and conflict mediation through the diffusion of tension, the Deflector can be prone to finger-pointing and blaming. The Deflector is the "yeah-but" archetype. This can be expressed both externally (making excuses to others) and internally (making excuses to one's self).
The Freeze Archetypes
The Obsessor
The Obsessor is defined by their naturally focused attention and tendency towards circular thinking. The Obsessor will think about things over and over, which can lead to emotional distress and/or bursts of creativity and unique insight. The Obsessor has selective and intense focus, and when they are able to deliberately and thoughtfully direct this energy they can become an invaluable asset to creative and problem solving projects.
The Professor
With a deep inner world, The Professor is the most depth and knowledge-driven of the six Failure Archetypes. Professors seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge and when interested in something have impressively long attention spans. With a natural ability to find flow state (a state of intense focus where a person loses track of time because they are so in the zone), Professors are often sources of great insight. However, they can also get so lost down their rabbit hole and forget why they were looking up information on Byzantine urns (or whatever topic grabbed their attention) in the first place.
Shameless Plug
If this type of reflection is interesting to you, make sure that you follow Failure Lab on all the various platforms to learn about our upcoming events and trainings!
XO,
Anna Baeten @ Failure Lab