There is a gap in your brand archetype. There is. Very few companies ever achieve a perfect alignment with their archetype, but this quiz will help you understand that gap and why closing it is in your company’s best interest.

Let’s start with a definition of an archetype:

A symbol, theme, setting, or character type that recurs throughout time and across cultures in myth, literature, and ritual so frequently that it embodies essential elements of the universal human experience.

Archetypes are stories that define your organization’s values, beliefs, and strengths. Business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs use them as a foundational truth. Those who understand and apply them often find that strategy flows more naturally, communication becomes easier, and transitions happen more smoothly.

The purpose of this quiz is to give you a snapshot of the primary archetype (out of twelve) that defines your organization. It also helps you identify potential gaps in how your brand expresses itself. Let’s take a closer look at what those gaps mean.

The First Gap

You can take the quiz based on your ideal business, or you can take it based on the business you’re currently running. The results, however, will likely not match. That’s because your ideal business—with its ideal brand archetype—is often very different from the reality of your existing business.

Your business is constantly growing, and in truth, it may never fully reach your ideal standards. There are too many variables at play in running a company. That’s why it’s best to answer the quiz based on your current business, not the dream version of it.

Here’s an example:

My co-founder at our magazine took this quiz twice. The first time, he based it on how he envisioned running his ideal business. The second time, he answered as if he were describing how we actually run our magazine today. His archetype results were completely different.

When he took it based on the magazine—the company that actually exists—his result was Sage