Why
is the Enneagram so Powerful?
What are the practical uses of the
Enneagram?
As you can see from my articles about building
relationships and working with
teams,
the Enneagram
will open your eyes to ways others may
be different from you and how to deal with those differences. In-depth character descriptions
and real-life stories at this web site will help you appreciate
why, for example, someone seems bossy or critical or defensive. Instead of taking it personally
and escalating interaction difficulties, you can learn to respond to others
more effectively and often with more compassion. If your boss or
friend or spouse is Enneagram style
Eight,
for example, it's
easy to respond to his or her directives with anger or passive-aggressive
behavior; but when you do that, you don't learn anything
about yourself and you
keep interactions at the level of "strategy" instead of developing mature
and well-functioning relationships.
What makes the Enneagram
so powerful? People thirst for
a sense of meaning and connection in their lives,
above and beyond any immediate need to "become a better manager" or "get
along better with my spouse." The Enneagram is powerful because the
recognition of your key coping strategy or "style"
will show self-constructed barriers to your most authentic self. Most people
experience this as a significant "aha" experience. When used with its full scope, the Enneagram is a vehicle for
personal transformation.
What benefits
and what downfalls result from classifying people with the Enneagram?
The
benefits arise from better understanding yourself and others,
and thus interacting in more
mutually fulfilling ways. The downfalls result
if you use these categories to excuse yourself or rigidly define the behavior of others (e.g., "Well,
I'm a Four and it's hard to pull out of
my
melancholy" or "She's a
Three, so
she's only out for her own success"). It's
simply not true that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." I
had an 80-year-old client who was still very much
engaged in becoming all he could be. In fact he wrote
a poem
to me about his Enneagram style!
What are its limitations?
The Enneagram
is not the only way to view human potential. Some enthusiasts act as if it
is, but that's more a limitation of the users than of the system itself. It is the most useful model I've found to explain what makes people tick.
It's also a powerful window
to the soul.
