The Trick To Identifying Your Values

As a branding strategist, I spend a great deal of time thinking about human motivation and meaning. One of the lines of questions I’ve used throughout the years to get at what truly matters to an individual is this: Tell me about a time when you got into a dispute with a friend, client, coworker, or even, a boss that truly got under your skin. What was the conflict? Why did it bother you so much? What value do you hold that feels it needs defending?

I’ve found this to be significantly more effective at identifying values than asking for them directly. The reason is found in this quote by psychoanalyst, Carl Jung. One of the concepts he is well-known for is his work on archetypes which he referred to as recurring mental images or themes in humans that are expressed in our stories. In individuals, archetypes show up as our personalities. In groups, archetypes show up as a culture.

All great stories have conflict and/or a challenge for characters to overcome. We fall in love with characters (in movies, books and real-life), not because of the amazing things they do, but because of how they address conflict and reveal what they care about.