Know Thyself Through
Enneagram
How does the Enneagram work? It consists of a framework that categorises
people into nine basic personalities. It is represented as a “enneagon”, a
circle surrounding an equilateral triangle and two incomplete triangles that
meet in nine points along the circle’s circumference. Although
it is common to find a little of yourself in all nine of the types, one of them
– your basic personality type - will stand out as being the dominant one.
There are several fundamental
points about the basic personality type:
1. Throughout your lifetime, your
basic personality type will not change.
2. No personality type is inherently
masculine or feminine. Hence the descriptions of the personality types are
universal.
3. Not everything in the description
of your basic type will apply to you all the time because certain traits will
soften or grow more prominent as we develop.
4. There is not significance to the
numerical ranking of the nine types.
5. The concept of labelling each of
the types with numbers is used to imply the whole range of attitudes and
behaviours of each type without specifying anything negative or positive.
6. No individual personality type is
superior to the other, it all depends on the cultural setting or group that we
find ourselves in. Each type has unique assets and liabilities, with different
limitations. Although we may not be happy with the type that we are, it is
important to understand that the ideal is to become our best self, not to
imitate the assets of another type.
7. You are strongly influenced by the numbers on either side of
your core personality type. For example, although a type 5 may be influenced by
a type 4, while retaining the core traits of a type 5.
The Enneagram is a very powerful tool that can be used to
understand our motivations for doing what we do and our personality traits. As
Lao Tzu once said, "He who knows others is learned. He who knows himself
is wise."
