There are different kinds of rebels. By recognizing and understanding the archetypes, we can live and work together better.
With a deep analysis of mavericks, renegades, and principled rebels across human history, there is evidence of four archetypes. Each archetype influences what we attend to, and how we respond to potential threats and opportunities. Few of us can be characterized into a single type. Characteristics of particular types can be activated by external cues (such as being in a group setting) or internal cues (such as when feeling curious). Understanding the type you tend towards, as well as the other types, can help you understand how to best leverage strength and support to get the best possible outcome in a situation.
The 4 Archetypes Defined
The Innovator
Breaking the mold in the pursuit of innovation.
Famous Innovators: Jonas Salk, Maria Montessori, Johannes Gutenberg, The Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur), Marie Curie – first person in history to win two Nobel prizes!
Innovators hold aspirational visions of what is possible. They design solutions to fix what isn’t working. They ask questions. What problem can we solve? How can we produce something better? Why hasn’t someone done this before? What can we learn from prior problem solving successes and failures?…
Keep Reading +
The Culture Shifter
Shedding light on cherished, conventional ideas and practices that are suboptimal.
Famous Culture Shifters: Nicolaus Copernicus, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lenny Bruce, Fredrick Douglass, Simone de Beauvoir
Culture Shifters poke and probe at nonsensical belief systems. Their alternatives to conventional thinking are the harbingers of social progress. They question whether widely held beliefs are true, whether they are working well, and why and how particular beliefs, practices, and norms came to be…
Keep Reading +
The Defender
Breaking rules in the pursuit of justice and fairness.
Famous Defenders: Thich Quang Duc, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Winston Churchill
Defenders offer support for those dealing with injustice and unfairness. There is the whistleblower who discloses misconduct (not unlike the referee who blows a whistle to halt illegal or foul behavior). There is the upstander who witnesses misdeeds and offers aid (the opposite of a passive bystander)…
Keep Reading +
The Niche Carver
Breaking norms in the pursuit of personalized pleasure and fulfillment.
Famous Niche Carvers: Jane Goodall, Edmund Hillary, Bob Marley, Jack Johnson – boxer, Bruce Lee
Niche Carvers abandon the notion of a proper path to living. They aren’t focused on creating something for humanity like Innovators. They aren’t invested in obliterating nonsensical social norms like Culture Shifters. Niche Carvers engage in acts of principled insubordination because what works for the group, doesn’t work for them…
Keep Reading +
Get the full story on the 4 archetypes of insubordination in my new book, The Art of Insubordination: How to Defy Effectively.
Todd Kashdan’s new book, The Art of Insubordination, How to Dissent and Defy Effectively is a research-based toolbox for anyone who wants to create a world with more justice, creativity, and innovation.
Pre-Order:
Amazon Barnes & Noble Bookshop.org IndieBound
Get Provoked!
Cultivate your curious mind and flexible thinking by signing up for Todd’s thought provoking looks at commonly accepted practices and ideas.