By Mario Sikora
Don’t Call it an “Ancient Personality System”–It’s Not
It seems that almost everyone now wants to teach the Enneagram in organizations. As someone who has been doing just that for over 25 years, I couldn’t be more excited. I have devoted my career to the belief that learning the Enneagram is one of the most valuable things a person can do for both their personal and professional lives, and any way we can expose it to a broader audience is to be applauded and supported.
With that in mind, I’d like to share some things I’ve learned over the years (often the hard way…) that might be useful to those new at taking the Enneagram into the business world.
Before launching into the first tip, however, it is important to make a point that will underlie everything that is to come: the business audience is very different from the self-help/spiritual audience—primarily in that the business audience is far more skeptical and pragmatic. They are not looking for reasons to believe what you say; they are looking for reasons to prove you wrong.
And, even more importantly, they are looking for results! Yes, some might be interested in personal or spiritual development, but if an organization is paying you it is because they expect a return on their investment and that there are tangible improvements in performance tied to your work. To lose sight of this fact is unprofessional and unethical.
Therefore, when using the Enneagram in organizations you need to be extremely rigorous—you must have evidence for your claims and, most importantly, you must focus on simplicity and results. I’ll have more to say on each of these points throughout these posts, but keep them in your mind always when taking the Enneagram to the business world.
TIP ONE: DON’T CALL THE ENNEAGRAM AN “ANCIENT PERSONALITY SYSTEM”
I recently heard an Enneagram teacher talking about using the Enneagram in organizations start his talk by referring to the Enneagram as “an ancient personality typing system.” This is a problem for two reasons:
Appeals to antiquity may work with a religious or “spiritual” audience but they will turn off a business audience, and
It is factually wrong.
Let’s start with the latter. Late in life, Claudio Naranjo admitted that he falsely attributed the Enneagram of personality to the Sufis (the mystical branch of Islam) to gain support for his ideas. While one could argue that some of the ideas taught along with the Enneagram of personality are old, this does not make the Enneagram as a model of nine personality types “ancient.”
By way of analogy, though some of the elements that led to the creation of integral calculus are found in ancient Greece, integral calculus itself was independently created by Newton and Leibniz in the 17th century. Calling calculus “ancient” when talking to a group of informed people would immediately undermine one’s credibility and anything that follows would face extra skepticism.
The reality is that the Enneagram as a system of personality began with Oscar Ichazo in the 1960s and he was inspired by older ideas related to human nature. Ichazo’s work was significantly modified by Claudio Naranjo and many others since. The Enneagram is not an ancient typing system; it is a relatively modern development.
Even if it were true (and it’s NOT), calling the Enneagram “an ancient personality typing system” is not something that would appeal to people in the business world. In all the applied arts and sciences, “old” is not necessarily good. In fact, it raises concerns; people want new and improved. Technology and knowledge are continually advancing, and in all the fields where lives or money are on the line (medicine, computer technology, insurance, the military, business, etc.), people look for the best, not something “ancient.”
We live in a time of accelerated growth and advancement and while ancient practices may be valuable for, say, recreation and character building, they are usually not what we rely on for the best and fastest results. Programmers don’t work on Apple-1s; accountants don’t use an abacus; doctors don’t bleed their patients. This is not because they don’t appreciate and respect traditions, but they understand that every field advances and it is best to use newer things in most situations.
Calling the Enneagram “an ancient personality typing system” to a business audience will set off their BS detectors and for good reason: it is BS.
