Berghoef Kacie - The Modern Enneagram

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ISBN: Print 978-1-93975-407-3 | eBook 978-1-62315-881-1

DISCOVERING
THE SELF

THE ENNEAGRAM
IN PRACTICE

THE ENNEAGRAM
AT WORK

THE ENNEAGRAM
IN RELATIONSHIPS

GROWTH AND
CHANGE

Have you ever had an experience of realizationwhere you understood something about yourself and the world on a deeper level than you ever had before? Maybe this insight came from a moment of contemplation, or from new information that led you to look at things with fresh eyes. Wed like to introduce you to a personality system that has had this profound effect on us: the Enneagram.

When I first learned about the Enneagram, I was sitting with my friends at a long table in a college cafeteria, eating forkfuls of fried tofu and undercooked rice. I was a newly independent undergraduate student, fascinated by a personality workshop Id just experienced in class and the discussion that had ensueda discussion about how each participant saw the world differently. I wondered if personality psychology held the key Id been seeking to understanding myself, making congruent choices, and connecting with others.

Have you heard of the Enneagram? one of my friends asked. He proceeded to give one-sentence descriptions of each type, and when I was unsure of mine, he handed me an Enneagram book to borrow. The system seemed complicated, and its geometric layout a little intimidating, until I started reading about the types. Not this one, not this one... Oh. Wait a minute. Had the authors been following me around with a video camera?

Ten years of Enneagram study and teaching later, this apt personality system maintains its power to surprise.

My story of self-discovery started on the Internet. My fascination with learning about how others worked began at a young age. By reading about various systems of personality and taking tests to determine my own type, I started to piece together why I, and others around me, acted in the way they did.

But everything deepened when a friend suggested I look into the Enneagram. A quick Internet search took me to The Enneagram Institutes websiteand a powerful understanding. Coming face to face with the Enneagram descriptions, a whole new world opened up into the whys of my actions. It seemed like the Enneagram knew me better than I knew myself! As I dove into exploring the Enneagram and finding myself, the other personality systems Id learned from, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and DiSC (an assessment that focuses on the traits of dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance), almost instantaneously dissolved into the background.

Fast forward over a decade, and I find that no matter how much inner work Ive done and how much I think I know, I continue to be astonished and awed by the Enneagrams power and ability to know me.

So what exactly does the Enneagram do? In short, it offers insight into nine distinct personality types. In a way, its a window into why people do what we do.

The Enneagram explains how different people see the world, allowing us to understand where other people are coming from. From that standpoint, its helpful for communication, workplace interaction, and relationship building. Its also a deeply growth-oriented concept, in that it describes habits of thought and behavior for each personality typehabits that keep many people stuck under day-to-day stresses and offers ways to break out of those boxes. These growth paths are, in our opinion, one of the most important ways people can apply the system to themselves.

The Enneagram has been used to build understanding between family members and coworkers, forge bonds between South African leaders of different racial backgrounds post-apartheid, reduce recidivism rates for parolees, and open paths of communication between Israelis and Palestinians. For the two of us, its helped with emotion management, self-acceptance, career development, relationship dynamics, and understanding our families. When used to promote understanding rather than stereotypes, the Enneagram is an immensely powerful tool.

A lot of our Enneagram learning came from books that remain fantastic and relevant, but havent quite kept up with our fast-paced modern life. The world is changing quickly, and there are new ways to apply the Enneagram in our increasingly globalized, digitally connected world. The Enneagram is used in more business and personal contexts with every passing year.