Learning your type

First of all you need to know a few basics of each type. There is no commonly accepted naming for them, although there were several tries to do that. The 9 types are usually referred to according to their number. So there is a type one, a type two, 3, 4 etc. The naming attempts though are elucidating. All 9 types can be looked at as roles, roles we play in life. Here is the list of the nine types with a few of their basic characteristics:

1. Reformer, Perfectionist

• true to principles, staunch, rational, orderly, meticulous, hypocritical, critical

2. Helper, Altruist

• giver, caretaker, generous, possessive, manipulative

3. Achiever, Motivator

• performer, succeeder, ambitious, image oriented, adaptable

4. Individualist, Romantic

• withdrawing, intuitive, expressive, original, tragic

5. Investigator, Observer

• thinker, keen eyes, innovative, deep observations, hermit, detached

6. Loyalist, Defender

• ambivalent, devil’s advocate, winning, pleasing, anxious, reactionary

7. Enthusiast, Epicure

• adventurer, sensationalist, joyful, versed, superficial, unscrupulous

8. Challenger, Leader

• protector, strong, confident, resolute, seeks control, domineering

9. Peacemaker, Mediator

• preservationist, reassuring, calming, indolent, complacent

Which one of the 9 roles resembles you the most? If you can’t point out one at this time, then try to find two or three that you think are most likely to be your type. Now you are one step closer.

Also, the following exercise can be helpful. On the drawing you can see all the 9 types with one of their conventional names. If you had to describe yourself with only one of those names, which one would be the closest one?

On the illustration I used the conventional names defined by the Enneagram Institute.

Enneagram tests

Learning your type from descriptions is the safe and sure way. But also you might get some serious help from the tests available. Some of them are available on-line. Actually I reviewed two of the on-line tests before:

• The Duniho enneagram test
• The Eclectic Energies enneagram test

Both of them are highly recommended and freely available on-line.

Also you might want to take the RHETI enneagram test. This one is created by the guys behind the most comprehensive work ever done on the personality types, Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson. The free sampler test is available here on-line.

Remember, tests are there only to give you a hint. It is only by learning the types that you can get full confirmation.

Further resources on the enneagram of personality types

The Wikipedia article can be a good reference at times. It is one of the most fluctuating entries I’ve seen so far on Wikipedia. Right now it is recommended.

The Enneagram Institute website has lots of good information. Being the on-line home of one of the greatest enneagram experts, it is highly recommended.

The most comprehensive books to familiarize yourself with the nine enneagram types are written by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson:

• Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery
• The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

Lots of good informations on

• Enneagram.net
• 9types.com
• Eclectic Energies

You might want to consider also the Enneagram Monthly, a publication focused exclusively on the enneagram.

It was almost 12 years ago when I first heard of the enneagram. Looking back, I can say that I was lucky to be introduced first to the process enneagram. The enneagram of the 9 personality types came afterwards. If this might have happened the other way, I guess I would have been rejecting it. By that time, I was all against typologies. Rejecting them and thinking of them as cheap entertainment. But fortunately, the enneagram showed up in a friendly way for my narrow mind. And now I am a believer in the enneagram’s amazing facets.

The drawing of nine

For those of you who don’t know what is the enneagram, I’ll give you a short introduction here. At its bare bones, the enneagram is a drawing. More than that, it is a symbolic drawing. So let’s call it a symbol. You can see on the picture above how it looks like. It is made of a circle on which there are the nine equally placed points all around. Inside the circle there is a triangle in the middle, and other lines uniting the points. This is the enneagram symbol as a drawing.

The 9 personality types

The enneagram symbol is created based on the properties of the number 9. This is why you can read about the 9 enneagram personality types. Those 9 types are placed on the circle, having the inner lines showing the relations between them. This is the most popular way to understand the enneagram.

The process enneagram

The other major usage of the enneagram is called the process enneagram. This approach to the symbol presents a map for a self completing process. You can think of the process of cooking for example, and picture the steps it takes from the kitchen until the food gets in your plate. This is a very simple process, the process of cooking, on which it is usually explained to beginners. The outer points here represent the order in time of the events of the process. Like buying food, cooking it, serving it etc. And the inner lines represent the feed-back mechanisms of the process. Enough of this for now. Will give you more details in as easy ways as possible later.

The enneagram is:

1. A system of 9 personality types, and

2. A system for mapping processes

Usually, people know only about the 9 types. There is a lot of good information, but also much irrelevant information on the system of the 9 types. Definitely, the good thing about it is that all, or most of it, is available now on-line. Even excellent tests are made to help you detect your own type. Here are two tests already recommended on Vertegram: the Duniho test and the Eclectic Energies test. The availability of those tests I think is very useful, especially for beginners.

What’s your type?

The first step in getting to know a personality types system is to identify your own type. After all, this is naturally the most attractive side of typologies. They give you quick information about yourself. The problem with quick information here is that it might get superficial. And now I give you my first point on why I think the enneagram stands out. Because it gives you hints, but it still keeps your curiosity alive. It lets you feel like there is always something more to it. And the fact is, that there is indeed always something more to it.

Symbols, by their nature, are giving room for endless interpretations. They carry endlessness within. And this is valid for the enneagram too. The more you learn about it, the more interesting it gets. I believe that the greatest potential of the enneagram lays in its dynamics. In terms of its mapping capabilities it is very plastic, thus it gives possibilities for its usage in so many fields.

After reviewing the two presented tests, I got some nice feed-backs from you. Some of you do not wish to share your thoughts here (hopefully you will change your mind), but had concerns about the results.In the near future I will present a few tips on how to recognize your enneagram type. Until then, maybe those of you who have experience with the enneagram, might want to share with us some of your thoughs. Happy enneagraming!

The Eclectic Energies website offers two enneagram tests. The first one they call it “Classical enneagram test”. The second one “with the instictual variant” is a shorter one, focusing on discovering your instinctual subtype.

Accurate results demand accurate answers

The “Classical enneagram test” is divided into 14 pages of questions. This seems like a serious approach if you only consider the number of questions. But I wasn’t disappointed at all by the quality and sharpness of the questions. One thing that you have to be aware before you start giving the answers: because of the relatively large amount of data that you have to read attentively, I advise you not to rush into giving answers. Take your time at every single question. Otherwise it might give you results according to your superficial answers.

How did it work? The whole test took me about 12 minutes to give answers and get the results. The results were accurate. In fact I wasn’t expecting this level of accuracy. After all, it seems to me that what looks like a drawback – the high number of questions – might save you from giving preconceived answers (for those of you already aware of your type). A feature that I liked at the end was to have the results sent by e-mail.

Good decisions, good results

The second test, “with instinctual variant” is a quick one. Only one page with questions. You only need to weigh the significance of statements in your character. Take you time, try to be honest and this test will give you the correct results. I am not particularly keen on the theory of instinctual subtypes, but the test seems to be working just fine. It gave me the correct results.

An interesting and funny moment was to discover that if I leave all the answers on their default value, it would give the guess on my type as being a 6. I am not a 6, but it sounds logical if you look at this test as giving decision-like answers. With a slight irony I wish good luck to all the sixes taking this test.

The tests are authored by Ewald Berkers. He did a great job on creating these tests and making them available for free.

I recommend you to take these enneagram tests.

You can find both tests at this page.

I would be glad to hear you experience on this. Don’t forget to let me know how did it work for you. Have fun!

Despite the criticism and controversy, I still give my vote to the enneagram when it comes to personality types. Typologies and systems of typologies are present from ancient times in human thought. They fulfill a need of ease in understanding. Thinking in categories makes it easier to understand although it often oversimplifies. The oldest one seems to be the Ayurvedic categorization on doshas, even older then the four humors theory of the Greek Historian Hippocrates.

For those of you who don’t know already, the short term ‘enneagram’ usually points the system of the nine personality types. There is another way to use the enneagram in self development and understanding, called ‘the process enneagram’, but for now we are going to stick with the 9 types.

Avoid to pigeonhole people.

The main argument against typologies in general is that it pigeonholes people. I tend to say that this is often true. I saw and keep seeing so many demonstrations of this. You know, when some wise guy jumps at you like: “You are acting like this because you are a 6.” (cause in enneagram types we use numbers). I can accept that this is somewhat ‘normal’ when you are familiarizing yourself with the types. Still, it leaves room for impertinence.

Learning how to recognize typologies is not about pigeonholing. Then why you should learn it? Why is it good?

Here I give you 4 reasons why typology is good:

1. It makes you more human. You have the chance to realize the main unconscious drives that make us act in so many different ways.
2. It makes you more tolerant. Understanding people, seeing how they follow unconscious drives, seeing yourself acting quite the same way makes you less abrasive.
3. It helps communication. ‘Knowing’ how people tend to react when you approach them, knowing what to expect in general, are helpful hints for an efficient communication.
4. It helps you develop your sense of humor. I guess this is a bonus. By realizing how mechanical we often act and pursue chimeras – should make you smile. Self criticism is also a first step for a healthy sense of humor.

The unseen mechanisms behind your blog

Conscious blogging is an e-book I wrote as a demonstration of the mapping capabilities of the enneagram. Modeling your blogging activity is something you might want to try. Once you understood how this thing works and got used to it, you will have the perfect tool to control your blog’s life.

A clear overview of every step of the blogging process

By reading this e-book, you will have a clear overview of every step of the blogging process, starting from the very basic needs (like having the proper publishing tools) to giving life to your ideas and spreading them out to your audience. It shows a way of understanding what’s going on in the background – most of the time unconsciously – and helps correcting the blogging process whenever it seems to take an undesired course.

If you’ve found this information useful, please don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts. I always appreciate your feedback. You can leave a reply on this page or contact me.

So, let’s see how Duniho’s enneagram test answers the ‘What’s your type?’ question.

Dr. Fergus Duniho has written and programmed an online enneagram test. He is calling it actually ‘The Triadic Enneagram Test’ as, in his words: “This test attempts to identify your Enneagram type by identifying which triadic groups your type belongs to”.

As you can se, I prefer to call it the Duniho test because it is easier to identify and remember a test by the name of its author. You may still call it as the author suggests. What is most important is to take it.

The premise

I took great care in giving exact answers to the questions. Also, my premise was that I already am sure about my type. The first part of the test will ask you about exactly this type of background info, so I gave my type and also checked ‘Strong’ on being sure about it.

Answering some simple questions

At the actual test part I took my time and answered as accurately as I could. I recommend you to do the same thing. Figuring out exactly your type is a rewarding knowledge, it is worth the time. The questions are kept as simple as possible, I liked that. But this also made me somewhat suspicious about the accurateness of the results.

The results

The skepticism that arose from being a little doubting on the simplicity of the questions vanished when I saw the results. The test worked for me. It gave my type, also it was quite accurate on showing how the other types are present in my case. Simplicity was present once more on the results page. At this point I liked it more than at the questions section. It also gave a short but to the point description about my type and gave a few links to other descriptions of my type.

Verdict

The Duniho enneagram test is worth taking. It seems quite accurate and won’t take too much time either. Rare bird, I liked this a lot. The obvious simplicity is also a good point, although I had the feeling that he is economizing on the words. More words for those who are completely new to the enneagram could be helpful.

Pros:

• accurate results
• simple questions
• short time

Cons:

• not enough information

I recommend you to take this enneagram test.

It is one step closer to knowing your type. The test is here.

I would like to see your feed back on taking the test, please feel free to express your impressions.

Update: I discovered a ‘Triadic Enneagram Test Statistics’ page. Interesting, but unfortunately it seems it is not updated. It’s a great idea though for a self improving enneagram test.

Let’s see these two major ingredients in more details.

Transforming yourself until you reach completeness is a creative process. You are recreating yourself, you are developing new visions, discovering unseen potentials. For this work to be productive, you will need both reliable tools and efficient skills.

1. Enneagram is the tool

The enneagram is a symbol. It is a graphical representation based on the properties of the number nine. This is stated in its name, in Greek ‘ennea’ means nine, ‘gramma’ means drawing.

Actually, there are two ways this symbol has been propagated and is known today:

• The enneagram of the 9 personality types
• The enneagram of process

The enneagram of the 9 types is very popular. There is so much quality information you can find on this that I will not write any introductory articles on it (although I am quite tempted – sic!). This system is a must learn for all who are really after understanding themselves. On this blog you will find many new approaches to this system of personality typology, as results of my personal experiences with it.

The enneagram of process is sort of a stepchild of the symbol. Although this was the first in time in terms of enneagram’s appearances, very few have heard of it at all, even less of those know how to use it. We’ll try to fill that gap on the Vertegram blog.

2. Vertical thinking is the skill

Vertical thinking is the most ancient approach to self transformation. The principle of analogies is its foundation, myths and symbols are its expressions.

The principle of analogy states that “by virtue of his microcosmic nature, man is son of the firmament or macrocosm”. The whole and its parts are mutually necessary and each implies the other.

Vertical thinking was rediscovered for us by Carl Gustav Jung. Jung’s analytical psychology is a scientific actualization of the vertical thinking.

Although I will try to avoid pseudoscientific pretensions, the holistic approach to personal development which I believe in, relies heavily on empirical symbolic systems such as astrology.

Play a little game with me

Vertical thinking it’s easier than it seems. Let’s see something simple.

One of the most obvious pattern for analogies if you look out on the window is the Sun. It is present on so many levels of our life. Think about it. Picture it in your body for example. Think of the Sun as present somewhere in your body. Where do you recognize it? Do you see some part of your body resembling the Sun? Take a look at your eye in the mirror. Your pupil is just like the Sun. Goethe said, that if our eye would not resemble the sun, we could not see the light. Poetic, but nonetheless a simple statement of the principle of analogies. The Sun is also located in your solar plexus, also called celiac plexus, in your abdomen. This is the place where hunger shows up, where you feel the inner heat and burning.

Continuing this exercise, can you give other examples of analogies for the Sun? Anywhere in the outer world, outside yourself, where do you recognize resemblances of the Sun?