The Fascinate test for self-awareness
“Other assessments measure how you see the world. This one measures how the world sees you.”
Reading this statement did make me believe that I would have somehow been able to figure out how the world sees me. Yet, I was confused as to how this would even be possible. As I started the test, I realized this would not be the case…In fact, during the test, I thought to myself, “am I taking the wrong one?” It seemed to me that I was answering questions about how I see myself, rather than how others see me. Just like every other personality test out there.
Almost every single question on the test started with the phrase “What do you think” or “Do you think” or “Do you see”. All of these are asking me about what I think. It is not asking others what they think of me. Already, this creates a bias in opinion. Using what I think to answer the question of what others perceive me as does not produce reliable results for predictions of other’s beliefs.
So, what were the results?
According to the test, my archetype is called the “Orchestrator”. This is a combination of two qualities, or advantages, which are “Passion” and “Alert”. Some of the characteristics that describe an “Orchestrator” are: taking and inspiring action, naturally attentive, dedicated to a team, able to provide intelligent solutions, grounded and practical. An Orchestrator also takes into consideration other’s thoughts and emotions. The characteristics that follow the “Passion” advantage include: creating warm and personal connections, being friendly, efficient, and welcoming to get other people involved in tasks. The characteristics that follow the “Alert” advantage include: expecting results from others, being on track and being efficient. If one were to “Coach” my archetype, one would say: “People can rely on you, but you could consider taking a step back to hear what other people might have to say”.
Does this feel true?
To me, yes. To others, how do I know?
The characteristics that my archetype describes do feel true to me. If I were to think about positions I have been in the past, that involve working with others to complete a task or solve a problem, I have noticed that I behave very similarly to the characteristics described above. I prefer working with others, rather than just myself, and I find myself to be welcoming and engaging. When I am interested in reaching the goal, I find myself to be very devoted to doing so, by finding the solution, meeting the deadline, producing the best work possible, motivating others, and wanting an equal commitment from other people on the team, in their own time and pace. These results may hold true to the way I see myself, but they may not for the way others do. For example, I may think I behave one way and have based my answer on the questionnaire on my own beliefs, but when others are asked the same question about me, their answers would differ. Even if it does feel true to me, I have no way of knowing whether it reflects the truth.
The idea of Fascination
I believe this test is beneficial for self-awareness. For an individual to explore how he/she sees their behavior, a good way to make one think whether the qualities described through the results truly reflect what one thinks of themselves. For example, the results told me that I am dedicated to a team. This is an opportunity for me to reflect and think, am I dedicated to my team? And in a future task, I will be more aware of my behaviors to self-reflect on whether the fascination test was right. I think that there are other, better, ways to investigate what others think of you, and the company “How to Fascinate” needs to take this into account before claiming that it can measure “what the world thinks of you”.
