Phil O'Reilly, a
free-flowing
intuitive
thinker,
wanted to find more productive ways to organize his
dissertation and overcome what he saw as his negative
personality traits. Through
coaching, Phil realized he'd blocked his innate creativity
by trying to write his dissertation following a traditional,
linear approach and he began to use his intellectual gifts
more freely:
Phil also came to appreciate the gifts of
his personality. The Enneagram Four is often
innovative,
able to see things in a new light, and
understandably frustrated by
the tendency of others to prefer doing things the way they
always have. To help him influence traditionalists from two
departments to embrace his perspective, I likened the two
disciplines to railroad stations. One would only accept blue
cars; the other would only accept red cars.
"If you
believe the blue car can add something, but you want it to
be accepted at the red station, you need to paint it
red. Once you get the blue car into the red station, it will
be easier to show its added value."
Phil was
inspired by this metaphor to create his own way to bridge the
intellectual barriers between departments.
