An Overview of the Enneagram

by Dr. Paula Raines

Have you ever thrown your hands up in disgust after failing to relate to a family member, friend or colleague during a discussion? You can't figure out where they are coming from or how they could be so unreasonable. You also realize that no matter what you say or do, you never can convince them of the benefits of seeing it your way the right way.

Consider this scenario: You may be a take-charge, can-do type of person. If a problem arises, whether at home or at work, you address it immediately, come up with a solution and move on to the next challenge. You just can't understand how someone else can ignore the same problem, hoping that if they pretend it’s not there, it will go away. You might also be driven to distraction by the person who, when there is a problem, becomes so overwrought and emotionally overwhelmed that they are no help in moving towards a resolution.

Many people are not aware of how profoundly different others see the world from them. We may assume that others, especially those close to us, are trying to drive us crazy when they take a certain approach to a problem or situation. But that’s not the case: they merely see the world and the immediate situation in a dramatically different way, and apply different values to their perceptions.

That people see the world fundamentally differently from each other has been accepted by all cultures as a "given" of human nature. Theologians, philosophers, religious leaders and psychologists have always tried to understand these differences and to organize them into understandable patterns. In one effort, years of study and observation have resulted in a system for understanding character and value differences known as the Enneagram (pronounced any-a-gram), which names both the diagram of a circle with nine points and the description of character types. The term, Enneagram, comes from the Greek words Ennea, meaning nine, and gram, meaning types. The Enneagram describes nine distinctively different types of character structure, world view and value systems.

The modern Enneagram was first introduced in this country in the early 1970s and originally taught in small spiritual and psychological trainings. However, it quickly entered the mainstream after the publication in 1987 of the first popular book on the subject, Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso. In the ten years since the book's release, over 50 other books on the Enneagram have been published with more than a dozen titles ready to be released within the next year.

Enneagram training is now being conducted in education, teacher training, business, psychology, marriage and family therapy, spiritual direction and organizational consulting. A course in the Enneagram for business application is currently one of the most popular classes at the Stanford Business School. Over 530 people representing 19 different countries and 33 different states attended the Second International Enneagram Conference in Towson, Maryland in August 1997.

So, after so much time, why all the sudden interest? Because the Enneagram is a powerful and thorough system for understanding self and others. The nine character types described are dramatically different in core values, presentation, personal and work relationships, and how they relate to their environment. Understanding all the characters contained in the Enneagram helps us to relate better with others in all aspects of our lives.

Although all nine types are individualistic, the Enneagram circle represents a totality, with each type’s world-view and value system contributing one-ninth of the whole. No one type is any better than another, just different. The Enneagram circle depicts this equality.

The inner lines in the Enneagram circle also have great significance. We have all noticed that when we are in love we seemingly become someone other than our everyday selves. Similarly, under stress we often act or respond in ways that are not typical to our personality. The inner lines help to predict what other characteristics and values we will adopt in love or under stress making the Enneagram's comprehension and predictability of human nature even more fascinating.

So, the next time you have a misunderstanding with someone, don't throw up your hands in frustration. Instead, study the Enneagram in an effort to understand, appreciate and use their differences to develop a better relationship with them.