The Enneagram

Imagine you are at a dinner party. You are sitting at a round table with 8 other guests. Delicious food is being passed. Each guest is lost in their own thoughts. What might your thoughts be? I am thinking something along the lines of whether everything is in order in the room. For example, are the pictures on the walls hung at the proper height and are they straight or crooked?

Twelve years ago I was introduced to the Enneagram (pronounced Any – a – gram). The Enneagram is a system that describes nine types of people or nine perspectives on the world.

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele’s The Enneagram Made Easy is an excellent introduction to the Enneagram. Below is their one or two sentence description of each of the nine types and in capital letters what each type might say at the dinner party.

  • 1. Perfectionists are realistic, conscientious, and principled. They strive to live up to their high ideals. NOT ENOUGH FOOD GROUPS REPRESENTED HERE.
  • 2. Helpers are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people’s needs. IT’S SO GREAT TO FEEL NEEDED.
  • 3. Achievers are energetic, optimistic, self-assured, and goal oriented. I NEED TO EAT AND RUN. I’M SWAMPED.
  • 4. Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive. CHEAP CAVIAR – SHOCKING!
  • 5. Observers have a need for knowledge and are introverted, curious, analytical, and insightful. IT’S A TALKATIVE GROUP. GOOD – THAT GETS ME OFF THE HOOK!
  • 6. Questioners are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups and causes. SHE’S LEAVING EARLY. DOESN’T SHE LIKE US?
  • 7. Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. FIRST I’LL EAT, THEN TAKE SOME PICTURE, THEN TO MY CLASS, THEN…
  • 8. Asserters are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective. PASS IT DOWN, PASS IT ALL DOWN HERE.
  • 9. Peacemakers are receptive, good natured, and supportive. They seek union with others and the world around them. I FEEL SO CLOSE TO EVERYBODY.

In case you are wondering, I am an Enneagram 1. I have found the Enneagram so helpful that I decided several years ago to become certified to teach workshops on this psychological typing system. I taught two January term courses where I incorporated the Enneagram into other personal development material to good success. Students enjoyed discovering their types and, what’s most challenging about the Enneagram, the built-in tools for personal growth.

The four books below are also favorites and highly recommended.

Simon Parke nicely summarizes the value of the Enneagram, from the perspective of the Enneagram. “I [Enneagram] understand and describe human difference. Outwardly, our lives appear rather similar and people often talk an act as if we are. Inwardly, however, we live lives in very different ways with quite different perceptions of reality. We’re the same, yet quite different.”

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