Book Review by Jack Falt
After reviewing some concepts about archetypes, the book looks at how to awaken an archetype and how the concept of archetypes can be used within an organization. This is followed by some rules and cautions on using archetypes.
Part II looks at each of the twelve archetypes in detail. There is information on the contribution of the archetype to the workplace and the difficulties it can cause. There are some tips on how to work with individuals in the workplace who seem to have the archetype strongly operating in their lives. Each archetype then has some work sheets to help you assess where you are in relation to this archetype. The book concludes with some exercises on helping you understand yourself and your past in relation to the organization you are working with.
The concepts give an added dimension to type in that each of the 16 types can each exhibit all of the 12 archetypes considered by this author. (Of course there are many more than just these 12.) Thus an INFP with a strong Orphan archetype will come across quite differently from and INFP with a Destroyer archetype.
I used this book along with Awakening The Heroes Within as resources with my ongoing group as well as leading two large group workshops. There was a lot of material in this book that was not in Awakening. For those of you who are interested in archetypes, this is a worthwhile book. I am still waiting after several years for Pearson’s Archetypes and Type.