Self Insight

We offer a series of workshops that enable you to develop self-insight using a system known as the Enneagram.

The Enneagram is a profound, elegant, and very pragmatic approach to understanding people and their relationships. Based on classical sources, it describes nine basic world-views, nine different ways of doing business in the world. Each of the nine patterns has its own natural gifts, limitations and blind spots; each has its own distinctive ways of thinking, acting and being.

The Enneagram teaches us in practical ways to see the world as others see it. You can then appreciate what others value and what they do not, and why they think, feel and act the way they do. When you know the enneagram pattern of the people in your life, you can respond to their intent, instead of getting caught in their sometimes difficult or confounding behaviour. You can nurture their fundamental strengths, and know in what situations they are likely to be rigid or unskilful. You can serve up your words and wisdom in a way that it can be heard, and you can inspire them from the inside out.

When you know your own enneagram pattern you can get out of your own way. You can make conscious choices instead of acting on automatic. You can draw from each of the nine patterns as appropriate. Most importantly, you can act with passion, compassion and clear intent.

THE NINE PATTERNS

"Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions," said the philosopher Bertrand Russell, "which move with him like flies on a summer's day." When you know your Enneagram pattern, your game becomes transparent, even to yourself. The Enneagram lays bare the unconscious assumptions that drive the way you see yourself, do your work, relate to your colleagues, and make decisions. Instead of operating on automatic, from "comforting convictions," you can, with clear intent, invoke your reservoir of talents and skills.

The Enneagram teaches that we are different in important ways:

• Ones need to get things right and teach you how to do it
• Twos need to help others and be the sine qua non
• Threes need to work hard, accomplish much, succeed and be admired
• Fours need to explore their true feelings and creativity
• Fives need the information they need to be masters of their universe
• Sixes worry about what can go wrong, who can be trusted and who will do them in
• Sevens need the full range of upbeat possibilities, plans and experiences
• Eights need to exercise full dominion and protect those in their charge
• Nines need to empathize with all the players and be part of the whole picture

Though none of the patterns is bad in itself, being unconsciously wedded to an Enneagram pattern limits flexibility, imagination and choices. Caught up in habitual ways of perceiving, you miss important pieces of the whole. Knowing your vantage point and the vantage point of those you work with builds more than perspective: It clears the mind so that discernment is possible. It loosens the heart to the experience of others. It focuses the will, so that you can get out of your own way and act with concentrated intention, power and effectiveness.

Here is the briefest description of each of the nine paterns offered with the caution that they are only brief digests of rich material and that people are NOT their patterns.

One - THE PERFECTIONIST: Ones want to get things right. Critical, idealistic, judgmental Ones make decisions with an internalised "single correct way" in mind. They want their work to reflect their extremely high standards. Though their continual sermonizing, teaching and monitoring of others may make people feel nit-picked and rejected, their fiercest anger is turned inward on themselves. At their best, these upright, fastidious, high-energy paragons are honest and idealistic, with superb powers of criticism and a clear vision of what should be.

Two - THE GIVER: Twos want to be appreciated for all they do for you. Sweet, seductive, and manipulative, relationship-oriented Twos make themselves indispensable to and adored by important others as a path to power and influence. Twos are the powers behind the throne, with exquisite radar for the moods and preferences of others. They excel at customer service. The Jewish Mother, the Italian Mother and the Boss's Secretary Who Really Runs the Company are archetypes. Others may see Twos as prideful and power-hungry apple polishers. However, at their best Twos can be genuinely sensitive, helpful and humble givers, who inspire and bring out the best in others.

Three - THE PERFORMER: Threes want to be lauded for getting the job done. Enthusiastic, efficient, high-performing, competitive Type A's, Threes keep their eyes on the prize (the bottom line) and seek to be loved for their accomplishments. Others may see Threes, concerned as they are with image and approval, as expedient, artificial, superficial and insensitive, and they do run the risk of becoming their "resume" or their long list of accomplishments. But at their best, Threes are charismatic leaders, efficient, practical problem solvers, and accomplished team players and motivators. Threes know how the world works and what to do about it.

Four - THE CONNOISSEUR: Fours gravitate to the authentic, the beautiful, the true (which is always just out of reach) or the unusual. Melancholic, romantic, elitist Fours look under the surface for the deeper meaning, and manifest impeccable taste in all things. They make decisions based on the vicissitudes of feeling. As they see it, they're easily satisfied with the best. Others may see them as intense and flamboyant tragedians or snooty, acerbic critics. At their best, Fours are doyens of the creative and the beautiful who live the passionate life filled with panache, elegance and good taste.

Five - THE INVESTIGATOR: Fives want mastery over their personal domain. Emotionally detached, penurious Fives seek to observe life from a safe and protected distance while stockpiling facts, theories and information. They camouflage themselves and minimize needs, preferring not to rely on their relationships. Others may see Fives as emotionally detached, scientific observers of life who hide in their office or behind a wall of data or expertise. They can also be wizards, cool decision makers, perspicacious analysts, theorists and consultants.

Six - THE TROUBLESHOOTER: Sixes are preoccupied with worst-case scenarios. They stew over who can be trusted, whether the boss is on the level, and what could possibly go wrong. The pugnacious, counter-phobic version actively confronts these concerns. Others may be frustrated by Sixes' over-preparedness, procrastination and paranoia. At their best, Sixes can be original thinkers, imaginative, faithful, sensitive, intuitive, committed and ultimately courageous partisans, especially in defence of the underdog; they are terrific at ferreting out hidden motives and pitfalls along the way.

Seven - THE VISIONARY: Sevens want to keep all positive options open and active. Engaging, high-energy romancers, innovative and upbeat planners, Sevens are also the classic superficial Peter Pans who won't grow up. So wedded are they to the glorious possibilities of the vision they are spinning, they have a hard time perceiving the downside and so avoid closure, pain, conflict, ordinary commitments and routine work. Enthusiastic initiators of projects, they may fail to follow through. Others may experience them as narcissistic, quixotic and irresponsible. The best Sevens are gifted, perceptive and witty idealists, inspirational and charming amalgamators of ideas and enthusiastic networkers of people.

Eight - THE CHALLENGER: Eights want power and control. Expansive, blunt, and domineering, Eights lack restraint and express anger and loud feelings easily. Contentious, they seek out confrontations (often without realizing it), believing the truth comes out in a fight, and focus on their own strength and the other's weakness. Their bullying, excess, and lack of scruples may repel others. At their best, Eights can be excellent, bold kingpins, entrepreneurs and empire builders, untroubled by obstacles or propriety. Natural paladins, top dog Eights are often genuinely protective of the underdogs in their charge.

Nine - THE HARMONY SEEKER: Nines want to include all people and points of view and avoid discord. Nines are calming and compromise easily; they see clearly and identify strongly with the needs, enthusiasms and points of view of their fellows that others' wants seem like their own desires. Others may see Nines as spacey and neglectful, as pluggers and plodders, as bureaucrats no matter where they are found, and may be put off by Nine's obsessive being of two minds, their tendency to embrace ambiguity and their deliberate pursuit of seeming irrelevancies. At their best, Nines reflect and identify (with extraordinary clarity) people's positions without their own agenda intruding. They therefore can be excellent counsellors, intermediaries, team builders and peacemakers.