Structural Enneagram Personality Explained
Transcription
Structural Enneagram Personality Explained
Structural Enneagram Personality Explained By Jean Adeler Copyright Jean Adeler 2009-2014 Contents Structural Enneagram and Conventional Enneagram ....... 3 Personality as Perspective ............................................................ 4 Developmental Path .......................................................................... 4 The Six Perspectives ......................................................................... 4 Perspective Seven .................................................................. 4 Perspective Five..................................................................... 5 Perspective Eight ................................................................... 6 Perspective Two .................................................................... 6 Perspective Four .................................................................... 7 Perspective One ..................................................................... 8 Binaries ............................................................................................. 8 The Seven-Five Binary .......................................................... 9 The Two-Four Binary .......................................................... 10 The Eight-One Binary ......................................................... 11 Combination Perspectives on the Triangle ..................................... 12 Personality as Structure ............................................................... 13 Personality Dynamics ..................................................................... 13 The Nine Personality Structures ..................................................... 14 The One-Two Structure ....................................................... 14 The Two-Three Structure .................................................... 14 The Three-Four Structure .................................................... 15 The Four-Five Structure ...................................................... 15 The Five-Six Structure......................................................... 16 The Six-Seven Structure ...................................................... 16 The Seven-Eight Structure................................................... 17 The Eight-Nine Structure..................................................... 17 The Nine-One Structure....................................................... 18 Personality Types with Wings ................................................... 19 One-wing-Two, The Servant-Leader .............................................. 19 Two-wing-One, The Altruist........................................................... 20 Two-wing-Three, The Giver ........................................................... 21 Three-wing-Two, The Motivator .................................................... 22 Three-wing-Four, The Achiever ..................................................... 23 Four-wing-Three, The Individualist ................................................ 24 Four-wing-Five, The Artist ............................................................. 24 Five-wing-Four, The Visionary ...................................................... 25 Five-wing-Six, The Observer .......................................................... 27 Six-wing-Five, The Guardian ......................................................... 28 Six-wing-Seven, The Loyalist......................................................... 28 Seven-wing-Six, The Enthusiast ..................................................... 29 Seven-wing-Eight, The Excitement Seeker .................................... 30 Eight-wing-Seven, The Rebel ......................................................... 30 Eight-wing-Nine, The Boss............................................................. 31 Nine-wing-Eight, The Mediator...................................................... 32 Nine-wing-One, The Peacemaker ................................................... 33 One-wing-Nine, The Idealist........................................................... 34 Structural Enneagram 2 Structural Enneagram and Conventional Enneagram The Structural Enneagram is a fundamental rethinking of the Enneagram model of personality. The conventional Enneagram is a system of nine personality types organized on a graph called an enneagram, or nine-part figure. As an adaptation of that well-known personalitytyping system, the Structural Enneagram introduces several new features, among them: • Specification of the underlying structures of personality. • More-accurate, two-number structures as opposed to the old single-number types. These and other modifications of the Enneagram model add exponentially to its explanatory value and usefulness. Even at the surface level of delineation and description of types, the Structural Enneagram's innovations are quite extensive. For example, while the conventional Enneagram describes nine personality types with the option of assigning a wing—the type on either side of the dominant type—the Structural Enneagram makes wings an essential factor in personality typing. The principal new elements of the Structural Enneagram are as follows: • 6 Perspectives that form the building blocks of personality • 9 personality structures corresponding to pairs of adjacent numbered points • 18 type-plus-wing personalities Moreover, the Structural Enneagram model exposes the dynamics of personality, consisting of three separate moments that drive the personality. In short, the Structural Enneagram understands the Enneagram to be not merely an organized collection of personality types but also a dynamic model of the underlying structure of personality. A Note on Language Choices The basic Structural Enneagram still looks like the illustration above, although its parts may have different meanings. For example, in the conventional Enneagram, the lines connecting numbers map a “direction of integration”, while in the Structural Enneagram some of the lines are repurposed to map a developmental path, the order in which certain perceptual and cognitive abilities arise in childhood. For those wishing to break out of personality traps, the conventional Enneagram's vague recommendations to behave more like the type in one's “direction of integration” are replaced by a better understanding of how and why such traps exist. This information can help in devising a plan of action for personal growth. Structural Enneagram People are more than their personality types. Yet it gets tiresome repeatedly reading phrases like “a person having Structural Enneagram type Eight-wing-Seven.” So instead of spelling the idea out in eight words, I might shorten it to three: “Eight-wing-Seven”. In a sense, the Eight-wing-Sevenness of a person can be said to have its own, autonomous agency, acting within, and at times almost independently of, the whole person. In that sense, it can be true to say that Eightwing-Seven does something or thinks something. We all have occasions (probably many more than we would care to know) when some unconscious or automatic part of us takes over. So, although I never mean to imply that personality is the whole of a person, I will use this shorthand throughout. 3 Personality as Perspective At the root of personality is Perspective. The word perspective has multiple meanings: it is worldview; point of view; perceptual position; and mental posture relative to yourself, others, and the environment. In the Structural Enneagram, Perspective is contingent upon many factors, among them, physiological capabilities and constraints, psychological drives, accidents of personal history, cultural contributions, and (largely unconscious) linguistic structures. use of each of these Perspectives contributes something to your sense of identity, to your selfhood. The Six Perspectives The six points on the enneagram hexad—the sixpointed star shape—mark the Perspectives modeled by the Structural Enneagram. (The points on the triangle will be covered later in this section.) The typical patterns of underuse and overuse of these six Perspectives add up to nine personality structures and eighteen personality types. Developmental Path I believe that five of the six lines connecting the points on the hexad trace a developmental path, beginning with Perspective Seven and ending at One. The origins of Seven are in infancy, and One is the most sophisticated Perspective and probably the last to be added. This model assumes a norm in which, in the course of growing up, almost everybody acquires and is able to perform all six Perspectives, but everybody also favors some Perspectives over others. A stable pattern of lesser use of some Perspectives and greater use of others is what determines a personality type. But the common principle uniting all six Perspectives into a whole—and the justification for systematizing them—is that your Structural Enneagram The six Perspectives that undergird the personalities of the Structural Enneagram are listed here in the posited developmental order, which can be traced on the above enneagram figure by starting at Seven and following in the direction of the arrows, stopping at One. Perspective Seven Perspective Seven is the state of being as one with people and things—the state of being immersed in the environment. I also use the NLP term associated to name this state. From an associated position, you experience yourself as if inside the scene, using your senses to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste what is going on around you. This applies whether the experience is happening now, is being recalled, or is only imagined. When you are in an immersed state, your emotions are activated. While riding a roller coaster, you are excited and scared. While giving a speech, you are nervous. While serving on a jury, you become passionately vengeful in sympathy with a murder victim's family. You eagerly await the final game of a tournament. An amusing illustration of Perspective Seven is found in the opening paragraph of Edmund Morris's 4 Colonel Roosevelt, a biography of Theodore Roosevelt.1 The former president is on an African expedition: Sitting above the cowcatcher, on an observation bench rigged for him by British East Africa Railway officials, he feels the thrust of the locomotive pushing him upland from Mombasa, over the edge of the parched Taru plateau. He has the delightful illusion of being transported into the Pleistocene Age. Here TR, as if a part of the train, coursing through the African landscape, eager for excitement, inhabits the Seven state to the utmost. good in a flash. Either way, they are completely absorbed in the experience. Although we all retain some access to Perspective Seven’s immersion in experience, only an infant could possibly sustain this proto-Perspective Seven for any length of time. Once we acquire language and the ability to partialize, we will always, to some extent, stand out from the world in our own minds. Uncontaminated Perspective Seven will never again be possible. But as the personality matures and adds other Perspectives, the associated, Sevenish point of view will continue to provide a space for being as one with people, things, and experience. Perspective Five At around 18 months of age, children noticeably begin to acquire Perspective Five. Using this Perspective to conceptually distinguish themselves from the maternal environment, they pull themselves up from passivity, helplessness, and dependency. Whether or not you adopted Perspective Five as a prime component of your personality structure, you have it available to you. It is a skill set that allows you to get some distance on your environment and to avoid feeling that situations and people are swallowing up your individuality. I believe that a sort of proto-Perspective Seven arises in infancy, at the personality's first emergence from the nurturing maternal matrix, probably at around six months of age. Before that, although infants may have a definite temperament, there is little to suggest that they have a sense of themselves as individuals. Self and environment are a unity. Once they do begin to develop a sense of being different from the environment, they still experience themselves as a reflection of it. To a large extent, the state of the environment is the state of the self. Their budding sense of identity is wrapped up in what they see, hear, and feel. If the world is orderly and pleasant and they are well-fed, then they are composed. If the world is chaotic and noisy and the diaper is clammy and the child hungry, then everything falls apart. Babies’ selfhood, like their emotional state, reflects their immediate circumstances. And their experience is holistic. They don’t draw fine distinctions. The world is either good or it’s bad at this moment, although what’s bad now may change to Edmund Morris, Colonel Roosevelt (Random House, 2010), 3. 2 In previous accounts, I used the NLP term dissociated for Perspective Five rather than detached. However, since in 1 Structural Enneagram When using Perspective Five, you are detached2, or objective, as opposed to losing yourself in your experience. As you are somewhat removed from the scene, you occupy an observer space, so to speak, from which you see and hear what is going on “over there. This Perspective allows you to be less personally involved and more analytical. If, for example, you were objectively evaluating an orange— psychiatry dissociation has all negative connotations, in order to avoid confusion, I've dropped the term. 5 maybe you're going to serve fruit salad to guests—you might rate its acidity or notice that the juice tasted sweeter than usual. Enjoyment of the orange has been subordinated to observation. When you are detached, your feelings are more under your own control and less contingent upon circumstances. While riding a roller coaster, you may become curious about the physics of the cars staying on the pitched track. While giving a speech, you may evaluate the audience reaction. On the jury in a murder trial, you can dispassionately weigh the evidence for and against the charges. The developmental aspect of shifting from the associated to the detached perspective is well illustrated in an account written by psychoanalyst Jeanne Lafont.3 A four-year-old girl is being treated. On a rainy day, Lafont asks the girl to look out the window and then draw what she sees. The girl grasps the pencil in her fist and performs rain by dotting the paper. According to Lafont, most children at that age take a step back from the scene of rain and draw vertical lines depicting the drops falling. In dotting the paper as if the pencil were the rain, the girl is taking the perspective of the rain itself; this is Perspective Seven, associated. Drawing rain as vertical lines requires detached Perspective Five. By training her patient on how to enter the detached state, Lafont reverses the condition that had brought the girl into therapy. Cognitive therapy does something similar, teaching the person stuck in all-good or all-bad thinking to step back and observe a more nuanced reality. Perspective Eight The child once having attained some degree of distance from the maternal environment, with Perspective Five, the pendulum again swings in mom's direction. With the arrival of Perspective Eight, the child locks into a mother-child dyad, a bonded state steeped in the fantasy that identity is a function of holding another's attention. If you believe you are necessary to mother, then you can be sure she will not lose you. This is also a time of ego expansion. Children of three and four can be at their most aggressive and demanding. And, of course, they are becoming ever more self-aware. Under Perspective Eight, self-identity is founded on a subject-object relationship. This is a common distinction in psychology, but you can also think of subject and object in grammatical terms borrowed from the parts of the common English sentence structure: subject-verb-object. The subject does something that involves an object. “I love you”—I am the subject. “You love me”—I am the object. While under the influence of Perspective Eight, people of any age try to earn and maintain the positive regard of the other. For those who are Eight-dominant, a recognition-seeking strategy also plays a pivotal role in self-identity and motivation, as will be discussed in the descriptions of individual personality structures and types. As with the other five Perspectives, you never outgrow Perspective Eight’s mode of being, even if you don't express it as a major life theme. While holding subject position, you love, lead, follow, assert, motivate, convince, desire, see. In object position, you are desired, punished, rewarded, valued, taught, led, loved, seen. Whether the other is giving you attention or wanting attention from you, Perspective Eight secures a sense of identity via the recognition and desire of the other. Perspective Two Perspective Two connects you to other people's desires. It often involves the use of what NLP calls other position—a projecting of consciousness into the space of the other in order to imagine, from their point of view, what they think. I tend to discuss this perspective in terms of the other’s desire because I think the main thing you want to know about others' thoughts is what they want, and most particularly what they want from you. When straightforwardly expressed, Two-consciousness is centered squarely in the other. Some would Jeanne Lafont, ed. by Ellie Ragland, “The Inherent Twisting of the Gaze,” (Re)-Turn: A Journal of Lacanian Studies Vol. 4, Spring 2008: 127-134. 3 Structural Enneagram 6 call it thinking with the heart. It's an empathy that makes you feel connected to and responsible for each other. This direct sort of Two-consciousness dominates in the altruistic and caring types. Complicating matters, children may feel they have to compensate for a father who is missing or otherwise not doing his job of keeping the mother off their back. But whatever the reason behind a stuck Two pattern, it keeps the mother (and, later, any other) nearby, while at a reasonably safe distance. For you, this childhood drama may have been less intense and is long since forgotten, but it nevertheless left you with a highly useful ability to project your consciousness into other position and emerge with invaluable information. How else could you know how your audience is responding to you? Or what your market will buy? Or even how to love? Perspective Four Thinking psychoanalytically, we see that Perspective Two develops when children recognize that the mother desires something other than them. As the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan said, her gaze is turned elsewhere. As every mother knows, younger children often find it totally unacceptable if her entire attention is not trained on them. But it does happen. By school age, children solve this problem by putting themselves in her place in order to find out what she wants—how she wants them to be. Maybe, by giving her what she wants, they can draw her gaze back in their direction. But at some point, in the logic of the budding psyche, even this much attention can begin to pose a problem. There might be danger in attracting and holding the gaze of the mother. Practically speaking, there is the danger of being overwhelmed by the duty of fulfilling her desire. Not to mention the dawning realization that if you are able to project your consciousness into her mind, then she can do the reverse. She can possess you with her thoughts! Granted, you probably don't remember thinking this. Nevertheless, that this fear of possession is both real and intense is evidenced by its frequently showing up as the theme of horror movies, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Lacan depicted the fantasy of the possessive mother by the sinister image of the praying mantis. Given the danger of psychological engulfment and possession, you would think that we would all be spurred to abandon Perspective Two at the first opportunity. But there is a paradoxical reason to cling to a strategy of monitoring the mother's thoughts—let us say, her mental condition. A mother’s excessive neediness or negativity may activate children’s sense of responsibility for her happiness for the simple fact that having an unhappy mother threatens their well-being. Structural Enneagram Mental separation from the mother is at long last possible with the acquisition of Perspective Four. Rather than remaining in thrall to the task of giving the mother what she wants (in order to remain in some measure the object of her desire), children at some point identify more with their own drive for autonomy and selfcreation. Perspective Four is a turning inward to ask, Who am I separate from other people, and what do I want for myself? Such questioning promotes creative thinking since, without the (m)other to show you who you are and what to want, you have to discover new reference points for yourself. But the crucial first task of Perspective Four is to cover over, to repress, the Perspective Two’s enmeshment with the mother. From Perspective Four you insist on your difference from others. You begin to create your personal version of reality, a version that will eventually hook into some set of truths in the larger world, beyond the family. 7 Perspective One In ways large and small, personality types that rely on Perspective One are principled reformers. They notice where people and institutions are not living up to standard and try to rectify the situation. Moreover, they notice where family or societal norms lack justification and try to change them. It appears that the acquisition of Perspective One might begin with the young person's decision to somehow embrace a principle, quality, or worldview that is not well-represented in their family. They experience firsthand the family's deficiency, for example, a lack of education. Then, probably without going through any formal or even conscious deliberation, they begin to identify with a principle, or purpose, that, if realized, would fill the lack. So one child determines to become the first person in the family to finish college. Another leaves the city and buys a farm. Since Perspective One is rooted in a sort of judgment on your family's shortcomings, it becomes a way of distinguishing yourself, a way of individuating through self-improvement. At the same time, Perspective One involves heeding a call emanating from the world beyond the family. Maturing means being pulled away from parents by the larger reality and interacting with it in a meaningful way. Again, a major premise of Structural Enneagram is that all normally functioning people use all six perspectives. We all use Perspective One. We are all principled. Yet some personalities rely more heavily on Perspective One than do others. This will be explained more fully in the next section, Binaries. Structural Enneagram Binaries The six Structural Enneagram Perspectives are further organized into three binary pairs. A binary is a whole with two parts that stand in polar opposition to each other. Here, the opposition is between relational and individuated Perspectives. As illustrated in the above figure, the three binary pairs are Perspectives Seven and Five, Perspectives Two and Four, and Perspectives Eight and One. As shown in the following table, at one end of each pole are the relational Perspectives, and at the other end are the individuated Perspectives: Binaries Relational Pole Individuated Pole Immersed in experience Seven-----Five Detached from experience Oriented to other’s desire Two-------Four Oriented to own desire Identifies in relation to others Eight------One Identifies with principle These three binaries represent mutually exclusive takes on three critical issues. The Seven-Five binary deals at bottom with the state of being either inside or outside your environment. The Two-Four binary locates desire either in the other or in the self. And the EightOne binary locates the source of identity and purpose either in the other or in an ideal self. This source of identity, in turn, determines how we channel desire. Although it appears that almost everyone is capable of 8 taking all six positions, at any given moment only one position in each pair can be occupied. And yet, it turns out that a certain sort of access to the relational Perspectives is absolutely necessary to the efficient functioning of the individuated Perspectives. Unconscious access to Perspective Seven undergirds the ability to perform normally from Perspective Five, and so on. But to prove this would require an extended argument, one that I hope will unfold over time (perhaps in future revisions of this paper). Now to an explanation of the Structural Enneagram binaries. The Seven-Five Binary Over time, your preferred stance with regard to the two Perspectives of the Seven-Five binary determines your baseline mental and emotional states for the reason that it determines how you position yourself relative to your cognitive and physical environments. You can continually immerse yourself in experience, which I also call being associated (Perspective Seven), or you can step outside of experience and detach (Perspective Five),4 or you can switch between the two as appropriate. Distinguishing Perspective Seven from Five is first and foremost a matter of determining whether you are experiencing a situation from the inside or the outside. Relational Perspective Seven gives the sense of being inside, or associated to, experience, while individuated Perspective Five gives the sense of being outside it, or detached. Perspective Seven is the recommended state if you want to really feel something, from having fun and being happy to enduring an authentic moment of grief and sadness. It's also essential if you are to be able to pop into someone else's emotional atmosphere for a moment, if you want to understand or get into rapport with that person. Perspective Five could release you from having to take on the mood of the moment. It would allow you to feel objective, or curious, or peaceful, regardless of what is going on outside you. But for those habitually stuck in Seven's worldview and unable to detach, having fun and being happy are absolutely necessary states to be preserved at all costs. Because of this they develop an astonishing talent for denial. Denial is a skill that is usually understood in its pejorative sense, but it comes in handy whenever it’s not a good time to focus on hardships; in this sense, denial can also be called optimism. Yet, to carry on frenetically, pretending everything is great, ignoring all evidence to the contrary, is to risk an eventual, devastating incursion of the dark side of life. A variant of the Sevenish penchant for refusing to deal with the negative is talking about it too much. To off-load all your disturbing thoughts onto another person tries the patience of the listener and spares you from facing them yourself. Normally the Sevenish experience is modulated through an entire personality structure encompassing several easily accessible Perspectives. But for the person in the grip of Seven, not being able to make an objective, nuanced assessment of reality means that the world seems pretty much either all good or all bad. (This is sometimes called “good-bad splitting” or just “splitting.”) If the world goes all bad for people stuck in Seven then they flip over from denial into wallowing in pain. Everything is “horrible”—to use a word I hear a lot from a distressed Seven-wing-Eight. People stuck in Perspective Seven often seem to have their heads in the clouds. They may find that people actually tell them things like, “You need to come down to earth.” Not that they don’t try to get themselves grounded, even if by proxy. For example, some Sevenish men seem to “collect women,” who may represent something of nature for them. Or Sevenish men and women may use pets to help them get grounded. “Cluttering” is often a problem since, from Perspective Seven, relating to material things can give the impression of being connected to physical reality. One Seven-wing-Six told me she simply couldn’t put clutter away or else her things might disappear, and this thought was deeply unsettling to her. All of her things had to be out in the open where she could see them. Throwing out even useless junk provoked extreme anxiety. Her professional work was carried out in the sublime realms of energy and spirits, but the everpresent signs of her existence in the material world apparently helped to ground her. The alternative is to shift into the Five pole of the Seven-Five binary. Standing apart from a person, place, or situation, you reach detachment. You can perceive The associated and detached states are closely related to extraversion and introversion, respectively. 4 Structural Enneagram 9 patterns that could not be seen from the inside. You can remove your emotions from the scene and merely witness. You can evaluate things “objectively.” Obviously, each position, Five and Seven, has its merits. It has been recommended that we associate to positive experiences and detach from negative ones. Common language testifies, for example, that grieving must be “gone through” but we are not to “wallow” in it. So individuated Perspective Five is often considered to be the more mature and adaptive of the two perspectives in painful emotional contexts: we do say we “achieve” objectivity. Yet it is apparent upon reflection that both perspectives of this binary are absolutely necessary in all matters of the heart. You know that you must be immersed in experience, in the moment, to enjoy being with another person, and yet you periodically detach in order to view the situation from the outside, if you want to avoid any number of atrocious outcomes. And it's the same with intellectual pursuits. Perspective Five probably initiates the process of reasoning, analyzing and synthesizing patterns. But once you have taken in a certain amount of information on a topic, you can move seamlessly and intuitively back and forth from associated to detached states. You just can't do both at the same instant. And the state you favor will constitute the foundational factor of your self-concept and personality. Perspectives on Experience Seven Five Relational Individuated Associated Detached Inside Outside Subjective Objective Participant Observer Extraversion Introversion Fluent Hesitant Uninhibited Inhibited Enthusiastic Discerning The T-chart is suggestive of some of the basic differences between Perspectives Five and Seven. This chart is neither exhaustive nor exact. Each of the descriptors refers to how the individual interacts with experiences, including experiencing people and things. In coming sections I will introduce and discuss personality structures. All of the personality structures are influenced by the Seven-Five binary in some way. The following information is provided as a reference point. Structural Enneagram Personality Structures and the Seven-Five Binary Seven Five In Flux Two-Three Five-Six Seven-Eight Eight-Nine One-Two Three-Four Four-Five Six-Seven Nine-One Of the nine structures, four include the relational, Seven Perspective, four include the individuated Five Perspective and one has a more complicated relationship to Seven and Five. The Two-Four Binary The most telling distinction between the poles of the Two-Four binary is the location of desire in either self or other. Personalities incorporating Perspective Two are prone to a bit of mindreading, paying attention to what they imagine the other person wants—although their reply to the other's desire may amount to either a direct response to it, an interpretation of it, or a defense or rebellion against it. Personalities relying instead on Perspective Four pay more attention to their own desires, through introspection. Even so, they may not go after what they want due to interference coming from factors related to other perspectives. Most of us never lose the ability to empathize that comes with Perspective Two, and that is obviously a good thing. But, unfortunately for personalities that are wedded too tightly to Perspective Two, total attention to the other’s desire precludes healthy attention to their own. No matter how rewarding or necessary their Perspective-Two strategy may be, they eventually or occasionally crave separation from the other— separation such as Perspective Four offers. Some Two-types say that’s when the fear of abandonment kicks in. This fear is often attributed to the father’s literal or emotional abandonment. And the problem is exacerbated by a mother who either does not know what she wants or who fails to obtain what she wants and for whose desires the child feels responsible. 10 Later, this habitual willingness to consider the other’s desire is extended beyond the mother. Although Two-types may not always respond positively, they do tune into the other’s demands and preferences. On the other hand, personalities that use individuated Perspective Four are only too happy leave such responsibility for the other behind in order to follow their own desires. They will be far more autonomous, and even self-absorbed compared to someone who favors Perspective Two. Of course, it is quite possible to be balanced between Perspectives Two and Four, to switch seamlessly back and forth between them. Only you can’t do both at the same time. Most people lean noticeably toward one or the other. The following T-chart is suggestive of some of the basic differences between perspectives Two and Four. It is neither exhaustive nor exact. Each of the descriptors refers to how the personality is oriented to other people, especially as concerns the location of desire. Perspectives Relative to the Other Two Four Relational Individuated Other’s desire Own desire Empathy Introspection Heart Libido Connected Separate Giving Creative Serving Self-sufficient Fear of abanNeed for autonomy donment In coming sections I will introduce and discuss personality structures. All of the personality structures are influenced by the Two-Four binary in some way. The following information is provided as a reference point. Personality Structures and the Two-Four Binary Two Four In Flux Two-Three Three-Four Six-Seven Eight-Nine Seven-Eight Five-Six Four-Five One-Two Nine-One All of the personality structures are influenced by the Two-Four binary in some way. Of the nine structures, four include relational Two Perspective, four include individuated Four Perspective, and one has a more complicated relationship to Two and Four. Structural Enneagram The Eight-One Binary Finally, personality hinges on a choice regarding the Eight-One binary: whether to form an interpersonal identification and motivational strategy or an individuated one. The Perspective-Eight self-concept and purpose come primarily from relationships and interactions with other people, while the PerspectiveOne self-concept and purpose emerges from a relationship to ideas and principles. This distinction is important in that these two Perspectives control not only how people conceptualize themselves but also how they express themselves. Keeping in mind that all normally developed people, in other words, almost all of us, use both of these Perspectives. However, people do display a marked preference for one or the other. Since Eight-types form an identity out of others' reactions to them, they respond to interpersonal factors such as power, status, and hierarchy. For One-types, on the other hand, since an idea in mind is the guarantor of their existence, selfactivation occurs in response to thought-impressions such as standards, spiritual beliefs, principles, mission, purpose, and ideals. They are motivated to thought and action by something other than what will cause others to affirm their existence. Perspectives Relative to Identity and Motivation Eight One Relational Individuated Interpersonal Principled Recognition Being right Role Purpose Hierarchical Unique Worldly Idealistic The T-chart is suggestive of some of the basic differences between perspectives Eight and One. It is neither exhaustive nor exact. Each of the descriptors relates to the individual’s source of identity and motivation. 11 In coming sections I will introduce and discuss personality structures. All of the personality structures are influenced by the Eight-One binary in some way. The following information is provided as a reference point. Personality Structures and the Eight-One Binary Eight One In Flux Seven-Eight One-Two Eight-Nine Nine-One Four-Five Two-Three Five-Six Three-Four Six-Seven All of the personality structures are influenced by the Eight-One binary in some way. Of the nine structures, four include the relational, Eight Perspective, four include the individuated, One Perspective, and one has a more complicated relationship to the two. Combination Perspectives on the Triangle A crucial difference between Structural Enneagram and the conventional Enneagram of personality is Structural Enneagram's redefinition of the points on the triangle as combinations of the six points on the hexad. Structural Enneagram The triangle points, Nine, Three, and Six, are derived from the hexad in the following way: Six Single and Three Combination Perspectives Single Combination Perspectives Perspectives One and Two … combine at point Six. Seven and Eight … combine at point Three. Four and Five … combine at point Nine. The depiction of the combination perspectives through the triangle is what makes it possible for the Structural Enneagram to depict nine personality types out of six Perspectives. Recap The Structural Enneagram dictates that each of its nine personality structures be assembled out of two or three of its six Perspectives. It is axiomatic that a given personality will not include both Perspectives in the same binary since both cannot be expressed simultaneously. We have seen the logic in this: you can’t be both associated (Seven) and detached (Five) in the same instant; similarly, you can’t be impelled by the other’s desire (Two) and at the same time divorced from it (Four); nor can you be guided simultaneously by considerations of power relationships (Eight) and an ideal principle (One). The very existence of personality is being redefined here as the reality that, within each binary, you are bound to favor one side over the other. Although an evolved person might be flexible enough to switch easily back and forth between both poles of all three binaries, most people will have home positions that they operate out of most of the time, and by definition personality stems from the relative balance of Perspectives in habitual use. 12 Personality as Structure Each of the Structural Enneagram’s nine personality structures is a combination of two or three of the six Perspectives. The following table lists these combinations: Perspective Three, are not captured by the Three-Four arc. Six Perspectives Underlie Nine Personality Structures Perspectives One + Two Personality Structure One-Two Two + Three Two-Three (Two + Seven + Eight) Three + Four Three-Four (Seven + Eight + Four) Four + Five Four-Five Five + Six (Five + One + Two) Six + Seven (One + Two + Seven) Seven + Eight Five-Six Eight + Nine (Eight + Four + Five) Nine + One (Four + Five + One) Eight-Nine Six-Seven Seven-Eight Nine-One “One-Two” means a personality structure that combines Perspectives One and Two. The fully differentiated personality type could be either Onewing-Two or Two-wing-One. Since the points on the Structural Enneagram represent Perspectives rather than types, personality structures are depicted as the arcs, or sections, between the points. Thus, personality structures are continua formed by varying weights of two or three Perspectives. The personality structure is typically tilted to favor one of the two or three Perspectives that comprise it. Seven-wing-Eight means Seven is the prevailing Perspective. But the structure name “Seven-Eight” does not specify the prevailing Perspective. Seven-Eight is the combination of two Perspectives and encompasses both personality structures Seven-wing-Eight and Eight-wing-Seven. Similarly, a Three-Four personality structure includes both personality types Three-wing-Four and Four-wing-Three. The relative strengths of Perspectives Seven and Eight, which make up Combination Structural Enneagram And, if it were possible to have a single-Perspective personality structure, then the arc, or continuum, would be reduced to a point coequal with the single Perspective. Personality Dynamics In the descriptions of personality structure and type that follow, one of the points of discussion will be personality dynamics. Each personality structure has its own dynamic—its own movement through experience. These movements are triggered by psychological drives. (Psychological drives are a source of the theory underlying this model but are not covered in this document.) Parts of the Personality Dynamic Perspectives/ Binary Function Seven or Five Two or Four Eight or One Mode of being in the world Source of desire Channel of expression The aspects of personality dynamics that are emphasized by the Structural Enneagram are 1) a mode of being in the world, 2) a source of desire, and 3) a channel of expression. These aspects correspond to the binary pairs of the six Perspectives. 13 In the Structural Enneagram model, once drive is triggered, it sets out from a state, or mode of being in the world (Perspective Seven or Five). Drive then takes shape as a desire, seeming to emanate from either the other (Perspective Two) or the self (Perspective Four). It is then processed through a motivational channel that involves your self-identity and sense of purpose (Perspective Eight or One). Unfortunately, there can be hiccups in the flow of drive. And some of those hiccups, along with other personality dynamics, will come up in the individual structure descriptions that follow, as well as in the type descriptions in the section after that. The Nine Personality Structures Following are descriptions of the nine Structural Enneagram personality structures. Recalling that these structures are represented by the arcs between points around the enneagram circle, note that the list begins with the One-Two structure and continues around the circle to Nine-One. that One-Twos would prefer to maintain detached Perspective Five, but that certain situations toss them into a “negative-Seven” state of anger or despair. One-Twos' personal evolutionary path requires them to overcome their particular difficulty with holding Perspective Five. This will be apparent in their choice of goals that calls for sustaining objectivity, even in the face of externally or internally generated conflict or criticism. The Two-Three Structure Since Perspective Three is a combination of Perspectives Seven and Eight, the Two-Three structure comprises Perspectives Seven, Two, and Eight. Because all three Perspectives lie at the relational ends of their respective binaries, Two-Three is the most relational, least individuated of the nine structures. The result is an outgoing and charming personality that is rather too dependent on the reactions of others. The One-Two Structure The One-Two structure includes individuated Perspective One and relational Perspective Two. Perspective Two’s empathy for others is either turned to direct service to individuals or sublimated into social forms of service such as running charities, performing business support functions, teaching, and promoting political causes. Since Perspective One’s idealism tends to turn thoughts and actions toward more abstract and universal rather than personal themes, thinking turns to “how things ought to be.” What is not immediately apparent in this structure is where One-Twos stand with respect to their physical and interpersonal environment. Is their personality usually absorbed into the world through Perspective Seven or looking on objectively from Perspective Five? I believe Structural Enneagram Two-Threes rely on Perspective Seven, which means that they turn their attention outward rather than inward, so in order to feel good they are dependent on the environment and the people in it to support and nurture them. Given a supportive environment, TwoThrees are free to be their engaged and enthusiastic selves. Their direct expression of Perspective Two makes them interested in other people and eager to give them what they need and want: attention, love, entertainment, gifts, or assistance. In return they might draw to themselves the loving gaze of the other. The presence of Perspective Eight means that TwoThrees need the positive regard of important others in order to be fulfilled. Status is important to them, and they are likely to achieve it by hitching their wagon to a star. 14 The Three-Four Structure The Three-Four structure combines individuated Perspective Four with relational Perspectives Seven and Eight to make a highly achieving, adaptable, creative, and individualistic person. (As explained in the previous section, point Three unites Perspectives Seven and Eight.) Having Perspective Seven in their makeup makes Three-Fours passionate and engaged. Perspective Four makes them look to their own desire rather than allow themselves to be controlled by what others want from them. On the other hand, having Perspective Eight makes Three-Fours crave the positive regard of others, so they will strive to excel and to control their image. Dynamically, the Three-Four process looks something like this. Three-Fours have in mind some objective, the achieving of which might reward them with recognition or improved status. But this objective needs to align as much as possible with their own desire for self-expression rather than coming from somebody else or from society. Thoughts of achieving a particular objective ignite their drive. They then set out from the associated Seven state, which means that Three-Fours will throw themselves into the project and get swept up in it. As Four-types, they will prefer to act creatively, not always following procedure. Unless some external factor stops them, they will probably achieve their goals because they are not internally inhibited or conflicted about selfimposed goals, as long as those goals are consistent with their own values. The Four-Five Structure Four-Fives are creative, introspective, and cerebral individualists. They can at times be alienated, isolated, and avoidant. Perspective Five, the quality of being detached and observant, contributes intuition, introspection, and insight to this personality structure. But too much of this Structural Enneagram cool Perspective may also make it difficult to fully engage with people and experience. Having Perspective Four in the personality makes Four-Fives artistic, anticonventional, and original. Too much Four and they become merely eccentric. Both Four and Five are individuated rather than relational Perspectives. Behind a habit of detachment (Five) lies an original drive to break away from what feels like the engulfing influence of the family atmosphere and to stand out from the environment. And behind a move toward self-expression (Four) lies a drive to cut the apron strings and release the need to please the mother. With two individuated Perspectives and no relational Perspectives, Four-Five is one of the most autonomous personality structures in the Structural Enneagram. (Nine-One is the most autonomous.) Four-Five is one of the three personality structures that at first glance appear to involve only two Perspectives rather than three. (The others are SevenEight and One-Two.) As stated earlier, the dynamics of the Structural Enneagram model require three Perspectives to complete a personality structure. FourFive has Perspective Five as its mode of being in the world and Perspective Four as its source of desire but lacks a secure Perspective on identity, which either Eight or One would provide. But Four-Fives do not effectively use either Eight or One to self-activate and complete projects and bring them to market. If Four-Fives had settled at Perspective Eight, then they would have been Eight-Nines and would have been motivated by the drive to be a leader and, moreover, to be recognized as a leader. Instead Four-Fives have shifted away from Eight and are attempting to use Perspective One. When they do succeed in holding Perspective One, then they are like Nine-Ones, motivated by a sense of purpose to act and achieve completion. Furthermore, any time Four-Fives attempt and fail to self-activate through Perspective One, they tend to fall back onto a 15 disempowered position, becoming someone who can easily be thwarted by criticism and aggression (real or imagined). This appears to be the pattern of those FourFives who are conflicted about bringing their creations to the world. Consequently, Four-Fives’ lives too often appear to be a roiling mass of unfulfilled desire. Lacking the effective motivational strategy that either Eight or One would provide, their output may consist of partially finished projects and products that never hit the market, especially if they are acting independently, without an employer or agent of some kind to motivate them. To self-actualize, Four-Fives need to either consolidate Perspective One in their skill set or recruit or be recruited by another person or agency to manage and represent them. Lacking these resources, they revert to their characteristic ego defense: avoidance. This could mean they withdraw from the world or simply that they withdraw drive. The ultimate withdrawal of drive, short of suicide, is depression. The Five-Six Structure The Five-Six structure includes Combination Perspective Six, which unites Perspectives Two and One, so this structure comprises individuated Perspectives Five and One plus relational Perspective Two. The result is a personality that may be described as contrarian. Perspective Five makes Five-Sixes detached from the environment. This does not mean they are either uninterested or disinterested. Perspective Five still leaves people free to be involved and concerned. They simply remove themselves from the immediacy of experience and observe it, more or less objectively. This makes these personalities good investigators. Having Perspective One means that Five-Sixes are identified with and motivated to action by a guiding Structural Enneagram principle. They are not particularly concerned with status, if that means compromising their principles. To some degree they are always going to be reformers. Their Five and One components are usually pretty obvious. It’s Perspective Two that you may have trouble seeing in some Five-Sixes. That’s because, although they are focused on the other’s desire rather than their own, they may be quite suspicious of the other’s values and motives. Or they may simply believe that they know better what the other should want. The dynamics of this structure are as follows: FiveSixes observe what already exists (Five) and what people seem to need (Two). They then compare these findings to their own guiding principles to see what ought to be said or done, and that is what they do (One). The ranks of Five-Sixes include many lawyers, investigative journalists, investors, philanthropists, inventors, scientists, and philosophers. The Six-Seven Structure In the Six-Seven structure, the combination of relational Perspectives Seven and Two and individuated Perspective One produces an engaged, reasonably stable, and genuinely nice personality, albeit one that is prone to anxiety. Their accustomed use of Perspective Seven makes Six-Sevens throw themselves into life, but they do not necessarily come across as extraverted. The more Seven in the personality, the more they turn their attention outward. Perspective One makes them identify with a guiding principle, and they will often build a career around it. Although their Seven and One components are usually straightforward and obvious, their expression of perspective Two may be indirect and not immediately apparent. Unlike Two-Threes, Six-Sevens are not necessarily “helper” types in that they don't typically respond directly to others' needs. Rather, they apply 16 their own principles to deciding what the other should want and then try to provide that. The dynamics of this structure are that Six-Sevens start out from an associated position (Seven), engage some objective having to do with the other's needs (Two), and then do something that is consonant with both the other's desire and their own principles (One). This often means bringing some value such as laughter, order, or harmony to a situation that lacks it. The Six-Seven structure is home to people in a number of occupations. Many business people, lawyers, comedians, actors, physical therapists, and medical doctors share this structure. The Seven-Eight Structure The Seven-Eight structure includes two relational Perspectives, Seven and Eight, and has not comfortably settled on either Perspective from the Two-Four binary. This structure produces aggressive, determined, often rebellious individuals who run the gamut from John F. Kennedy to Idi Amin. Perspective Seven makes Seven-Eights crave material things and experiences that they can either find themselves or lose themselves in, depending on their state of mind. Perspective Eight adds an element of confidence, tenacity, and intensity. Underlying these characteristics is a need to be admired and elevated in status. As rebellious types, Seven-Eights would at first appear to have entirely rejected Perspective Two as a home position, but, in fact, they have not. Rather, SevenEights are heavily embroiled in Perspective Two, being largely incapable of unplugging from the other and consistently using individualistic Perspective Four, no matter how much they would like to do so. Instead, Seven-Eights use Perspective Two to discern what the other wants, and then, by applying powerful strategies of influence, manipulate the situation to either win people over or bring them to their knees. Riso and Hudson write about “[personality type] Eight's destructive antisocial tendencies,”5 but this characterization really only applies to Seven-Eights, not to Eight-Nines. These tendencies often trace back to Seven-Eights' antipathy toward a mother whom they experienced as neglectful or withholding or whose love was given conditionally. The dynamics of the Seven-Eight structure are as follows. Starting from an associated position (Seven), they find out what the other wants and generally do the opposite (inverse of Two). What happens after that will depend on whether their actions win the esteem of others or land Seven-Eights in trouble. As adults, Seven-Eights form very close bonds with another person, only to sometimes become vindictive after the honeymoon period, if the other fails them in some way. All their rebellion is a misguided effort to claim independence. If Seven-Eights were able to follow the example of Three-Fours in letting go of their emotional enmeshment with the (m)other, then they would succeed in creating a separate identity. But then who would lead the revolutions? The Eight-Nine Structure The Eight-Nine structure is individuated on two fronts, Perspectives Five and Four, and relational on the third, Perspective Eight. Eight-Nines are leaders. Being skilled in the use of Perspective Five, EightNines are ordinarily objective rather than being caught up in the moment. Using Perspective Four, they look to themselves rather than to the other for inspiration. (This most certainly does not mean, however, that they are incapable of taking Perspective Two. Most Eight-Nines are warm and engaging. True leadership requires great facility in taking the other's point of view.) However, with Perspective Eight in their makeup, their self-esteem is a function of how others recognize them, so they are motivated to win the respect of competitors and the admiration of others in their “tribe.” Eight-Nines recognize a hierarchy of authority, and they want to earn a place high up in it. Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery, Rev. ed. (Houghton Mifflin, Boston), 1996, p. 295. 5 Structural Enneagram 17 The dynamics of the Eight-Nine structure are as follows. Starting from a detached position (Five), they turn inward for a plan (Four), then get others to follow them in carrying it out (Eight). Because they do enjoy being the linchpin between the little guy and the higher authority, Eight-wing-Nines become good at managing, and particularly good at delegating. Ronald Reagan, a Nine-wing-Eight, had a reputation for appointing capable people who agreed with him in principle and leaving them alone to do their jobs. The movie director Robert Altman, probably an Eight-wing-Nine, prided himself on casting good actors and trusting them to interpret their roles without his interference. Added to the other two individuated Perspectives, Perspective One increases Nine-Ones' air of independence and intellectual self-reliance. They consult their own principles and goals rather than relying on external demands to direct their actions. Nor are they particularly motivated by the prospect of recognition from others. Rather, they take it as an obligation to respond to the call to bring their ideals into manifestation. From being so individuated, Nine-Ones develop a talent for looking beyond individual interest to the larger picture. From this comes a unifying point of view that makes them think more sociologically than other types. The Nine-One Structure The Nine-One personality structure is the most individuated, least relational in the Structural Enneagram model. All three component perspectives, Five, Four, and One, lie at the individuated poles of their respective binaries. This means that Nine-Ones form the most self-possessed personalities. Consequently, they may be perceived by people with more interpersonal structures as being overly detached or cool. Perspective Five gives Nine-Ones their raw powers of observation as well as the impetus to bring something of value to the world. Perspective Four gives them a mental posture of separation and difference from others. They look to themselves rather than to others to determine what should be done. Structural Enneagram 18 Personality Types with Wings The conventional Enneagram assigns one personality type to each numbered point around the circle and allows for an optional adjacent “wing,” with the wing referring to collateral parts of the personality. Although the Structural Enneagram adopts the conventional Enneagram practice of calling the secondary number a wing, this model does not actually recognize a single-number type. Wings are considered to be integral to the personality type. Consequently, personality types are always identified by two numbers rather than one. The 18 Structural Enneagram personalities are listed in this section, in the order that they appear around the enneagram circle, starting with One-wing-Two and ending with Nine-wing-One. One-wing-Two The Servant-Leader nobility, a sense of mission, impassioned striving, orderliness, and intelligence. Perspective Two, the heart position, is the secondary posture for One-wing-Twos. Because of their reliance on Perspective Two, even though they typically gravitate toward a leadership role, they will lead with caring and generosity. Perspective Two's empathy with individuals joins with One's idealism to form Servant-Leaders, people who are concerned with improving the human condition. They are compassionate, caring nurturers and managers, as well as advocates for the underdog. Since the dominant Perspective of this type is One, One-wing-Twos will seek to evince the principles dictated by the higher self. That is why we see in welldeveloped people of this type characteristics such as Structural Enneagram 19 Hillary Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jerry Brown, Mario Cuomo, Emma Thompson, and Martha Stewart probably have personality type One-wing-Two. Where the other’s desire meets the judgment of the ideal self, One-wing-Two’s purpose appears. As Bill Clinton said of his One-wing-Two wife, “She’s got the best combination of mind and heart … I’ve ever seen.” Yet “heart” does not always figure prominently in this type's public image. Obviously, the heavier influence of mind (One) has something to do with this. As suggested above, when advocating or working on behalf of reforms, it is sometimes preferable to avoid getting too emotionally invested in the process. Onewing-Twos probably do better when practicing detachment (perspective Five), and they may sabotage their causes by becoming overly attached to specific outcomes or taking things too personally. Moreover, when One-wing-Twos lose their normal reserve, they seem unnatural and incongruent to onlookers. On occasion, Hillary Clinton has been accused of having a “meltdown.” She may tear up or get melodramatic. She can become overly controlling and what anti-feminists delight in calling “shrill.” These are clearly moments of reverting to associated Perspective Seven when she should have stayed in Five, the observer state. I have a hypothesis that because One-wing-Twos want to help people they may attach themselves to spouses and employers who actively solicit their assistance. This dynamic would make both parties feel loved and appreciated. Potential partners would tend to be people with an Eight component since they like making demands on others. Bill and Hillary Clinton fit this picture since he is a Three-wing-Two (Seven plus Eight plus Two). Among the liabilities for One-wing-Twos is that they can be perfectionistic, impatient, emotionally constricted, judgmental, inflexible, and intolerant. Furthermore, they can fail to match up to their own high standards in any number of ways. But the loss of Perspective Five under stress and the simultaneous slide into negative-Seven is the biggest risk for this type. Two-wing-One The Altruist Through helping others, Altruists combine Perspective Two's generosity with One's principles to demonstrate unconditional love. Unfortunately, they can be other-oriented to self-destructive extremes. You can recognize people of this type by their warmth, encouragement, and overall air of acceptance. Structural Enneagram They enjoy giving smiles, hugs, compliments, and gratitude. Probable examples of personality type Two-wingOne are Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, and Desmond Tutu. Tutu's Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference (co-written with his daughter Mpho Tutu) reads like a manifesto for the Twowing-One way of being. Other reported examples are John Bradshaw and Danny Glover. Two-wing-Ones' commitment to service springs from both the heart and the head. Since Perspective Two is the main influence, they have a real talent for helping others. Although they may act in a quiet, personal way, their secondary Perspective, which is One, gives them a sense of duty and purpose that may nudge them toward business or community work rather than strictly family service. The childhood need to attend to the mother’s desires (Perspective Two) carries over into adulthood, with the mother's role being displaced onto others. Two-wingOnes look after friendships and relationships of all kinds. Furthermore, like the other type in this pair, they may attach themselves to Eight-types simply because Eight-types are more than willing to play this game. But habitual overuse of Perspective Two can cause Twowing-Ones to lose themselves in the fantasy of being able to satisfy others’ unrelenting requirements and demands. Giving too much of themselves is always a risk with this type. As illustrated in the biography of famous Twowing-One, Florence Nightingale, somatizing is a common defense against not being able to say no. Nightingale believed that God had called her to be a nurse. In the nineteenth century, that vocation was not acceptable in a young woman of her social class, yet she persisted in spite of disapproval. Convinced that marriage would interfere with her ambitions, she rejected at least one seemingly advantageous offer. Through of her experience of nursing soldiers in the Crimean War, Nightingale revolutionized nursing care in both military and civilian hospitals of Victorian 20 England, and her influence spread around the world. But she eventually fell ill and became an invalid. Some observers have thought there was an element of hysteria to her illness, which did, in fact, have the effect of getting her out of a lot of things she didn’t want to do, while still allowing her to dictate social and healthcare reforms from her bed. When Two-wing-Ones allow the hopelessness of others’ eternal, unremitting need to get under their skin they may spiral downward into illness, depression, or escapism. Even as these strategies help them disengage from the other’s lack, they can prevent them from fulfilling their own larger missions. And when frustrated, they may revert to the pattern of absorbing and getting stuck in others' negative feelings. A Two-wing-One woman had been going back and forth between two possible responses to a sticky family situation for several days. She felt an obligation to travel to a distant location to support her mother and other family members through a crisis, but she didn’t want to become embroiled in their habitual negativity. Her Seven-wing-Eight mother had even told her not to come, but that refusal of help was obviously part of a dysfunctional pattern of her own. When the daughter tried to think about her dilemma, she regressed into an inverse-Seven state and just felt despondent. Using NLP, I guided her into the detached Five state and asked her to examine objectively not only every relevant scenario she could think of but also her present experience of being unable to choose and feeling bad about it. By the time she completed the exercise, she had already made a decision to go. She easily followed through on her decision. Once there, she found that her presence was helpful to the family, and she was even able to stay detached from the family drama, all of which gave her a great sense of satisfaction. Differentiations On average, the givingness of One-wing-Twos is probably a little less personal and more universalized than that of Two-wing-Ones. The former may be less apt to get caught up in the net of the other’s perennial neediness. You also may be able to differentiate these types by attending to the degree of warmth they emit. One-wingTwos are relatively more distant and cool; Two-wingOnes are typically more emotive. Structural Enneagram Two-wing-Three The Giver Givers are friendly, charming, and adaptable. While they give all sorts of gifts, perhaps the common thread is that Two-wing-Threes give the gift of making people feel better. They have the warmth and social graces to make people comfortable. This makes them welcoming hosts and effective motivators. Many entertainers are of this type, but many more are the pillars holding up families and organizations. Possible examples of personality type Two-wingThree are Lewis Carroll, Barbara Bush, and Kathy Lee Gifford. Other reported examples are Barry Manilow, Sammy Davis, Jr., Kathy Bates, John Denver, and Pat Boone. Point Three is a combination of Perspectives Seven and Eight. Two-wing-Threes are notorious for expressing almost exclusively positive affect, at least in public. Like most Sevenish people, they would prefer that the dark side be kept out of sight. And if they can add to the happiness of others through their joyous, affirmative, and often passionate attentions, then the environment becomes that much brighter. People of this type, along with their cousins the Three-wing-Twos, probably invented business networking and relationship selling. With Two as the dominant Perspective, this type is openly loving, friendly, and supportive. In fact, people of this type adapt easily to the desires of their chosen other. Of course, anyone with any sense of selfpreservation does the same or pays for it in lost rapport, lost sales, or lost influence of some other kind. But this type ratchets up adaptability, turning themselves (or what they have to offer) into the object of desire. At the extreme, some especially Two-heavy Givers may hesitate to even say what they think for fear that it will contradict what you want them to think. This type also incorporates Perspective Eight, which involves an identification with role or status, and Two-wing-Threes are known for being status conscious. Although we usually think of Perspective Eight as being 21 a power position, many Two-wing-Threes are willing to hold a subordinate role. If they think their own talents can’t get them far enough, then they may hitch their wagon to a rising star. This is the route of seduction rather than obvious power. Beyond positive affect and gift-giving it’s hard to characterize this personality through typical behavior. Two-wing-Threes may be active or inactive, attractive or plain, depending upon whom they are wooing. However, on occasion they will admit that their particular adaptation to life has prevented them from fully becoming themselves. They may feel thwarted in their self-expression. They would like to be more selfish and creative. One Two-wing-Three told me she feels as if her creativity has been bottled up. Suppressed drive can manifest itself as tension in the chest and abdomen or may be converted into illnesses that have a marked stress component—high blood pressure, adrenal failure, spinal problems, and diabetes, for example. Two-wing-Threes may on some level be aware of when they are creating an image of themselves and not an authentic self. A Two-wing-Three of my acquaintance acknowledges that many of “her” beliefs and attitudes really belong to her Eight-wing-Nine husband and not to herself. To become more authentic, she would need to take on the perspective of the Threewing-Four. However, if she made that shift, it would cause friction with her husband, who does not want a more independent partner. Three-wing-Two The Motivator Motivators are exceedingly charming. They have a need to be happy, and to accomplish that they also need the people around them to be happy. Since they often play the part that they believe will win the other over, they may be professional entertainers of one kind or another. They are naturally enthusiastic people who infect others with their optimism and drive. Combination Perspective Three incorporates Perspectives Seven and Eight. To the degree that Three-wing-Twos rely on Perspective Seven, they would like to express exclusively positive affect: they know there’s a dark side, but ordinarily they don’t see any point in giving voice to it. I suspect that this is the most likely type to believe that the most important thing in the world is to be happy. Perspective Two influences them to think in terms of giving and service to others. Three-wing-Twos like people and want to help and encourage them. Structural Enneagram To the degree that they operate from Perspective Eight they identify with role, image, status, and achievements. This means they will probably be competitive and compare themselves to others. Although people with the Seven-Eight or Eight-Nine structure will often be impelled to challenge others for leadership, Threewing-Twos are more likely to challenge others for moral authority: they want to influence how others think and behave. These three Perspectives come together to form the following dynamic: The setting is a Sevenish atmosphere of being immersed and engaged in life. Three-wing-Twos want to be happy, so their environment must be happy, so the people around them must be happy, too. Then, from an Eightish need to win others over to their point of view, they will give whatever they think will make important others happy (Two). Often they will motivate people to achieve their own happiness. This particular dynamic requires that Three-wingTwos craft a positive image of themselves. Negativity must be brushed aside. Three-wing-Twos are always, in a sense, on stage, acting a role. This often means attention to wardrobe, spending hours in the gym, and speaking well, among many other possible factors. Maintaining an image can become a compulsion. Probable examples of personality type Three-wingTwo are Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Mary Kay Ash, Mike Huckabee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Cosby, Anthony Robbins, John Edwards, and Lance Armstrong. Other reported examples are Elvis Presley, Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, and Sylvester Stallone. In everyday life you will recognize Two-wingThrees as hosts, entertainers, and motivators. As motivators, they typically try to inspire people to change at a personal level rather than trying to make societal or institutional reforms. You can follow this pattern clearly in Bill Cosby’s career. He started out as an entertainer and has hosted a television game show. The Cosby Show had an inspirational element and is credited with helping to change white America's view of African Americans. 22 Currently, he is a motivational speaker and writer who emphasizes personal boot-strapping rather than institutional change. Cosby also demonstrates that you cannot always recognize Three-wing-Twos by their dapper appearance. He doesn’t have to worry about his physical image. It is enough that he is a highly educated African American role model who has become extremely wealthy and successful through his own efforts, and that is the impression that matters to his current audience. Three-wing-Twos may strive to demonstrate some virtue, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who achieved fame as a model of fitness. Like motivational guru Anthony Robbins, this personality works hard to acquire the skills and success necessary to make a mark. Although the emphasis on image might imply that Three-wing-Twos will always be superficial, that is not the case. This strategy of projecting a positive image is not only adaptive, it can also propel them toward true personal growth. At the end of his acting career, Schwarzenegger expanded his talents toward childhood fitness and nutrition programs and then into politics. Before he could attract followers, Robbins had to improve his own life in a substantial way through practicing what he preached. I know a Three-wing-Two minister who has developed a deep spiritual practice. Three-wing-Twos' craving for admiration very often propels them toward becoming authentically admirable people. Differentiations Two-wing-Three leans more toward being a host and Three-wing-Two is more of a motivator: Two-wingThree Kathy Lee Gifford and Three-wing-Two Oprah Winfrey are both televisions hosts, but Oprah almost always has a self-improvement angle. Three-wing-Four The Achiever Achievers are driven and resourceful people who strive to create and control their own images and their own lives in order to be recognized as exceptional. They are skilled at gaining rapport by fitting into their chosen milieu—except that they’re often the best at what they do and the smartest guys in the room. Whether because of or in spite of all this striving, they are typically both successful and likable. Since Combination Perspective Three unites Perspectives Seven and Eight, this type incudes Seven, Two and Eight. Structural Enneagram Perspective Seven makes Three-wing Fours enthusiastic and committed, and sometimes overly emotional. When in balance, they can use Perspective Five (the other Perspective in the Seven-Five binary) quite effectively. But when something happens to make them feel insecure, they double down on Perspective Seven Perspective Four makes Three-wing-Fours individualistic and original. They want to distinguish themselves in some way in order to give evidence of their difference. Perspective Eight influences them to want to have an audience and to be motivated by achievement. They may be interested in teaching others how to do what they do. Three-wing-Fours earn success and recognition through accomplishing self-determined goals, by being the best at something or projecting the best image. Probable examples of personality type Three-wingFour are Paul McCartney, Sting, and Taylor Swift. Other reported examples are Johnnie Cochran, Michael Jordan, Bryant Gumbel, Salman Rushdie, Andy Warhol, Richard Gere, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Werner Erhard, Andrew Cohen, David Copperfield, and Ben Kingsley. Since Three-wing-Fours feel they have to work so hard for recognition, they often feel inauthentic. If they show—not their real selves—but their whole self, they fear they may lose the love and respect of others. If even in their own minds they identify too closely with their image, this is, of course, the definition of narcissism. But healthy narcissism is an absolute requirement of worldly success. Image is properly thought of as merely the atmosphere one creates around one's true self. At best, it's a projection of the true self into the environment. Werner Erhard, who is reported to be a Three-wingFour, may embody the term “checkered past,” and some people who took his est training decry its indoctrinating, even brainwashing tone. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that he offered a toolkit of useful selfimprovement tactics. And, if he is indeed a Three-wing23 Four, then perhaps his teachings would be especially good for that personality. Some of his teachings involve loosening up the dependence on Perspective Seven and being more comfortable with Five. This means cultivating a willingness to look at the whole of reality and even to be comfortably aware of the dark side. For example, in an interview with John Denver, who was guest-hosting “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” Erhard advised that people “get in touch with the person they’re afraid they are.” He then demonstrated a technique for giving a space to “evil.” With Tom Snyder he talked about looking at the big picture: “Take the blinders off and look at it.” Both interviews are available on YouTube. If Three-wing-Fours make better use of Perspective Five to accept themselves warts and all, they may be able to incorporate some of the better leadership characteristics of Eight-wing-Nines and be less subject to unwanted bouts of negative emotion. Four-wing-Three The Individualist Since they view life as art, whether creating music, running a business, or putting together a wardrobe, Individualists perform with flair. They win acclaim by being both original and outstanding. As explained previously, point Three unites Perspectives Seven and Eight. Having associated Perspective Seven, Four-wingThrees are engaged and engaging. They throw themselves into life and try to set a positive tone. There can be some emotional volatility if the environment is difficult, but they will bounce back. Sometimes, when talking to others, it seems as if they don’t have a filter. Although they have this penchant for getting caught up in experiences, they are very independent when it comes to deciding what to do with their own lives. Perspective Four makes them outsiders with the desire to create something unique. Ultimately, the thing they are trying to create is a better version of themselves, and they will go to great lengths of self-improvement and training to do so. With their Eightish requirements for a good selfimage and self-esteem, Four-wing-Threes are sure to be both affable and ambitious. If criticized, they develop thick skin and try again. One probable example of personality type Fourwing-Three is Cyndi Lauper. Other reported examples are Tennessee Williams, Marcel Proust, E. M. Forster, Michael Jackson, Jessica Lange, Jeremy Irons, Paul Structural Enneagram Simon, Naomi Judd, Steve Martin, Laurence Olivier, John Malkovich, and Judy Garland. Differentiations Sometimes you can tell the difference between the two types in the Three-Four structure just by looking at their clothes. Three-wing-Fours want to dress for success, so they will usually prefer to look stylish but also appropriate. Four-wing-Threes want to emphasize their uniqueness, so their dress may appear costumey or even eccentric. Although they may be found in many lines of work, it is good if they can somehow utilize their knack for being dreamers, poets, and artists. I know a Three-wingFour who is a minister, but not the kind that heads one church; rather, she travels, giving clever and profound sermons at many churches. I know another who works at a veterinary office and communicates with pets. Four-wing-Five The Artist The Artist is all about creating something new and different. Four-wing-Fives don’t fit in with the crowd. Quite the opposite. They are seldom moved by convention, tradition, or the will of another, although they may go along to avoid confrontation. This independence shows up in Four-wing-Fives’ artistic creativity, original thinking, or bohemian style. Not every Four-wing-Five is literally an artist, but all bring individuality and artistic sensibility to whatever they do. Self-expression above all! People of this type are introverted, brainy, insightful, and enigmatic. Their individuality can stretch all the way to idiosyncratic self-absorption. They alternate between cool and emotional. They are romantic dreamers as well as romantic philosophers. 24 their field of endeavor, they are iconoclasts who bristle at authority. Under difficult conditions, they may become reclusive. With Five as their dominant Perspective, Five-wingFours are detached from their environment, which means they are looking on as if from the outside rather than immersing themselves in the scene. Although they may seem emotionally distant, they don’t want to be rejected by other people, so they strive to prove their own worth and the worth of their ideas. Probable examples of the Four-wing-Five personality type are Søren Kierkegaard, William Blake, Virginia Woolf, and D. H. Lawrence. Other reported examples are Hermann Hesse, Vincent van Gogh, Marlon Brando, Harvey Keitel, Johnny Depp, Joni Mitchell, and Ingmar Bergman. Four-wing-Fives are drawn to writing, painting, music, film, crafts, speculative philosophy, and the social sciences. They bring their imaginative talents to whatever role they find themselves in. The thinking style of Four-wing-Fives is more synthetic than analytic. I know a Four-wing-Five painter who also has a Ph.D. in English, and she calls upon her knowledge of each to inform the other. A clue that you may be dealing with a Four-wingFive can sometimes be found in the colors of their clothes. Since the dark side is never far from their awareness, they may wear all black. Then again, many wear violet, both because more conventional people have in the past considered it unseemly to wear violet and because it is a color associated with transformation and growth—self-creation being the psychological object of all Four-wing-Fives' creative efforts. Four-wing-Fives’ dominant drive concerns the need to sever a certain kind of connection with others. Imagining (and this would typically be unconsciously imagining) that you can offer others what they need to be satisfied is just a way of allowing them to keep you on a string. It’s called co-dependence. Fours of all types insist, rather, on their separation from the other, and so their whole lives emphasize being different. Five-wing-Four The Visionary Five-wing-Fours, whom I call Visionaries, are introverted, cerebral personalities who enjoy learning, theorizing, and innovating. They are often artistic, intellectual, or scientifically oriented. No matter what Structural Enneagram On the other hand, this striving is influenced by Perspective Four, which brings a need to assert their individuality. So they try to be different, perhaps through cutting edge or eccentric social movements, food, clothes, or the books they read. Combining these two Perspectives, we see that Five-wing-Fours are continually creating new and original works in order to make something of themselves and distinguish themselves from others. Probable examples of personality type Five-wingFour are Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Noam Chomsky, Williams Shakespeare, Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and J. D. Salinger. Chomsky has elsewhere been pegged as a Onewing-Nine, but I think that, as an anarchist and a system builder, he belongs in this group. Below I explain part of my rationale for placing him here. Other reported examples are Friedrich Nietzsche, Werner Heisenberg, Umberto Eco, Georgia O’Keefe, k. d. lang, Laurie Anderson, James Joyce, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Kurt Cobain, Gary Larson, Franz Kafka, Tim Burton, and T.S. Eliot. In business, education, or technical and scientific fields, Five-wing-Fours will usually be found pushing the limits of understanding. In the arts, they are drawn to imaginative roles such as writing, composing, and designing rather than strictly performance. Even as scientists, Five-wing-Fours work more in the manner of 25 artists, intuitively and creatively. They are optionsoriented rather than procedural. It also appears that their reasoning style is more synthetic than analytic. They are system builders. Consequently, a Five-wing-Four scientist might tend to meld science with philosophy. A song writer might blend music with politics. Their working style corresponds to their thinking style. First, as already established, they are more concerned with their own internal thoughts than with maintaining a connection to the external world, so they may be unsuited for teamwork or carrying out other people’s agendas. As writers, composers, and philosophers, they lean toward the experimental and speculative and are captivated by irony, surrealism, pessimism, and nihilism. In fact, this may be the type most at home with looking at the dark side. Because they are so detached, they can explore the underside freely and not get too bogged down in bad feelings. In addition, Five-wing-Fours often have a passion for neologisms, playing with words, letters, and images. Partly, this results from an aptitude for seeing patterns and connections, but it also fits into a general enthusiasm for the new, the original, and, yes, the quirky. Yet when others find them opaque, they still suffer from not being understood. Five-wing-Fours’ emotional tone can be playful or serious and is often moody. They may seem distant. In fact, if you try to get too close too fast they will probably put up an emotional shield. Too much effort expended relating to others will require some compensating alone time. At times, just by looking, you may be able to recognize this type by their unconventional dress. Emily Dickinson wore only white. Or, like the other type in this structure, Five-wing-Fours may wear dark clothes. I once gave a Structural Enneagram “reading” to a man who turned out to be a Five-wing-Four, although he didn't look like one to me. But I realized his colorblocked t-shirt might be throwing me off, so I asked him if this was the way he ordinarily dressed. He replied that he usually wore black, but that he had recently been in a bicycle accident, and now he wore bright colors so that drivers could see him when he rode. You might also recognize Five-wing-Fours from several behavioral tells. Sometimes their introversion will be apparent, although introversion does not necessarily mean shy. They may hesitate, perhaps speaking in a halting voice, or touching the nose. They often lean back—possibly a sign of withdrawing, but certainly a means of getting distance. Structural Enneagram On the other hand, Five-wing-Fours may be often in the public and may talk assertively. Still, closer observation reveals a certain discomfort or awkwardness mixed in with seemingly extraverted behavior. Perhaps overcompensating, some may come across as brash or brusque. Undoubtedly, they can be provocative, as if being willing to put up with their eccentric or antagonistic ways were the price you had to pay for their scintillating company. If feeling criticized, they may turn snarky. In general, when feeling under attack, they may defend themselves with rudeness and contempt. There are a few patterns associated with Perspective Five’s psychological drive that are noticeably expressed by Five-wing-Fours. They want to be loved but think they have to prove themselves worthy of love; to that end, they can be seductive and anxious to please. They may have an interest in subjects such as insanity, crime, and the occult. They may have cleaning compulsions. They may be collectors. They may have hobbies or vocations that in some ways resemble the aims of the alchemists of old, who worked at turning base metals into gold: finding and preserving rare collectibles, turning kitchen scraps into compost, and anything having to do with money and investing. They may take all this too far and turn demanding, insatiable, greedy, or parsimonious. There is one further consideration that is especially important for the types in the Four-Five structure, and that is the choice they seem to have made regarding the Eight-One binary. As explained elsewhere, people who express Perspectives Four and Five and are comfortable operating out of Perspective Eight have the Eight-Nine personality structure. And, if they adopt Perspective One instead of Perspective Eight, then they have the Nine-One structure. But it appears that Four-Fives have renounced Perspective Eight, while at the same time failing to use Perspective One effectively. With neither of these stabilizing Perspectives in place, Four-Fives have no firm identity and no internal motivational strategy for bringing their work to the public. Evidence that Four-wing-Fives have indeed rejected Perspective Eight lies in their antiauthoritarian views and behavior. Eights are authoritarian, but Four-wingFives are subversive iconoclasts, bristling at any hint of dominating power. Either Eight or One would offer the personality a stable sense of identity and a solid motivational strategy. But having settled on neither Perspective from the Eight-One binary, Four-Fives live their lives untethered and adrift unless they have external support in the way of people or institutions to manage and push them in the direction that they already wish to go, or possibly an audience clamoring for their work. 26 In addition, Five-wing-Fours are hypersensitive to criticism. Many of them are hindered, inhibited, and slowed down by fear of not being good enough. They have anxiety about sharing or publishing ideas, fearing criticism or ridicule one moment and plagiarism the next. For some, Four-Five can be an untenable personality structure. Four-Fives are always going to be striving to consolidate Perspective One as their home position unless they have the external support mentioned above. Yet, Five-wing-Fours who have found acceptance from an appropriate audience or whose work is in demand may seem like Nine-Ones because they are prolific and in the public and apparently have no lack of motivational strategy. I am thinking of Noam Chomsky, who seems to fit this description, if I have re-typed him correctly. Chomsky gained an academic position as a linguist and earned a specialized audience for his scholarly work before spreading out from that base to attract a wider audience. And it appears that, for any Five-wing-Fours who may have hit upon an attractive proposition early in their careers, the missing Perspective One signifiers can be replaced by external demand for their talents. This is not to deny the possibility of some people having started out as Five-wing-Fours and actually evolved as adults into Nine-Ones. Five-wing-Six The Observer Observer types investigate and improve their world. They have to investigate, because they have a tendency to question received wisdom. As with René Descartes, their thinking begins with doubting. And they usually see how they could make something better—better than what people have been settling for—better than what people had thought they wanted. Five-wing-Sixes are true contrarians. Observer types possess superior perceptual and reasoning skills, which, nonetheless, often fail them when it comes to understanding people. Although Fivewing-Sixes are very interested in people, they are at the same time wary of being overwhelmed by them and thus feel the need to erect barriers. Some of the most sensitive Five-wing-Sixes are too defended to be able to make the empathetic connections that would enable them to find out what others want and expect from them. Consequently, they may come off as socially inept. Yet Five-wing-Sixes' principles and interests almost always keep them engaged in the world, often with spectacular success. Structural Enneagram Probable examples of this personality type are René Descartes, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Wozniak, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Neil Armstrong, John Grinder, Eckhart Tolle, Alan Turing, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Woody Allen, and Isaac Asimov. Other reported examples are Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, B.F. Skinner, and V.I. Lenin. The following quotation from Steve Wozniak's autobiography (iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon, 2006, p. 18) richly illustrates the motivations of a wellrounded Five-wing-Six. That’s how I was, how I’ve always been— and still am, it seems. I’ve always had this technical side and then this human side. For instance, I remember telling my dad when I was ten that when I grew up, I wanted to be an engineer like him, but I also remember saying I wanted to be a fifth-grade teacher, like Miss Skrak at my school. Combining the human and the technical turned out to be the main thing for me later on. I mean, even when it came down to something like building a computer, I remember watching all those geeks who just wanted to do the technical side, to just put some chips together so the design worked. But I wanted to put chips together like an artist, better than anyone else could and in a way that would be the absolute most usable by humans. That was my goal when I built the first computer, the one that later became the Apple I. It was the first computer to use a keyboard so you could type onto it, and the first to use a screen you could look at. The idea of usable technology was something that was kind of born in my head as a kid, when I had this fantasy that I could someday build machines people could use. And it happened! Anyway, anyone you meet who knows me will tell you that that is exactly me—an engineer, but an engineer who worries about people a lot. 27 Six-wing-Five The Guardian Keen observers of society, Guardians stand up for justice and security. Ethical or political commitments are important to them, and they will devote their lives to protecting and supporting whichever groups or individuals they adopt as their own cause. Although Six-wing-Fives are intensely loyal to those they have chosen to support to those they disagree with, they can be contrarian zealots, pushing against their opposition. You might think of Richard Nixon with his “enemies list” and Christopher Hitchins with his proselytizing for atheism. This is a common type for lawyers and politicians and is probably the most common type for investigative journalists. Probable examples of personality type Six-wingFive are Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Richard M. Nixon, Edward M. Kennedy, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain, Michael Moore, Gloria Steinem, Rachel Maddow, Christopher Hitchens, Ralph Nader, and Tucker Carlson. Other reported examples are Walter Mondale, Bob Dole, Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Phil Donahue, Joseph McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Oliver North. Six-wing-Fives have concerns about security, which they displace onto selected others, and then set themselves up as their guardians. People of this personality type may even sacrifice their own needs to the safety and well-being of their favored groups and ideas. Differentiations Probably because they are less wedded to the detached, observer point of view, Six-wing-Fives can be a lot more sociable than the other personality in the Five-Six structure. Of the two personalities dominated by perspective Five, Five-wing-Sixes exhibit less interiority than Fivewing-Fours. Five-wing-Sixes look out and observe the Structural Enneagram world more, while Five-wing-Fours are inside creating and doing thought experiments and having feelings about them. Six-wing-Seven The Loyalist Loyalists value harmony and security and carry these values into both private and public life. Although they do not directly channel the other’s desire the way a One-Two might, they are intensely loyal to those they have chosen to support. Because of their Seven wing, they highly value a positive environment, so it is important to them that those around them also be well and happy. Since they have Perspectives Two and One in their makeup, their self-concept relies on making a career, formally or informally, of improving peoples' lives, even if it is only to entertain them for an evening. (But entertainment is sneaky in that a movie can change your life.) Probable examples of personality type Six-wingSeven are Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Alan Alda, Julia Roberts, and Jennifer Aniston. Other reported examples are Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Sally Field, Candice Bergen, Gilda Radner, Robert Redford, Marilyn Monroe, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Reggie Jackson, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Selleck. As Seven is only the wing and not the dominant perspective, Six-wing-Sevens are probably less extraverted than the other personality in the Six-Seven pair, yet they value friendship and want to be liked. Not only is it important to them to have a safe, harmonious, and organized environment, they also want to have interesting experiences, whether artistic, physical, social, or intellectual. Rather than exercising Perspective Two directly by simply trying to give people what they want, Six-wingSevens interrogate the others' desires, including their motives, across their own ideals. It seems they may have actually developed their standards out of a dialectic 28 between others’ desires and their own judgment of them because, although they are warm-hearted, they can also be opinionated. Since Six-wing-Sevens want to act from principle yet do care about the other's needs, and yet again are always questioning the other’s motives, they face continual anxiety about what to do. They must be prepared for all eventualities. They may hash out alternatives with friends before coming to a decision. Other ways they resolve internal conflicts are reading and research. They will often submit their judgment to preexisting systems of knowledge, such as law, medicine, or astrology as a means of resolving internal impasses. One such system may also form the basis for a career. Evolving Six-wing-Sevens are typically trying to incorporate more of the benefits of Perspective Five, particularly as concerns getting grounded and being able to face the dark side with equanimity. Their secondary issue seems to be acquiring Perspective Four and becoming more independent, and some may go to great lengths to achieve this. For example, a Six-wing-Seven had found herself immersed in one too many relationships in which she had given herself over to pleasing whatever man she was with at the time. Wanting to make something more of her life, she arrived at an almost intentional decision to get fat and use her less attractive appearance as an obstacle to losing herself in any more unhealthy relationships. Six-wing-Sevens' feelings of insecurity are probably a result of repressing their aggression in order to keep peace and harmony. If Six-wing-Sevens overvalue harmony enough to block rather than sublimate their own aggression, then they are surely imagining aggression returning to them from the direction of the other. And when they do lash out at another person, this is viewed by both parties as an aberration. Repressed aggression can best be handled by stepping into detached Perspective Five and facing buried thoughts head on. Seven-wing-Six The Enthusiast Enthusiasts demand that life be engrossing and entertaining. And they aren't stingy with the entertainment, either. Being both other-oriented and principled, they want to make sure the good experiences get spread around. So, to ensure a positive environment for all, they strive to make life fun and fulfilling for others as well as themselves. Structural Enneagram Probable examples of personality type Seven-wingSix are Robin Williams, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, and Marianne Williamson. Other reported examples are Steven Spielberg, Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Feynman, Timothy Leary, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Bob Hope, Mel Brooks, Regis Philbin, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and John Belushi. Even if they have a career in some kind of personal service, Seven-wing-Sixes won’t be just order fillers. They could be doctors improving the world by bringing the highest standard of care to their patients. They could be realtors creating community while showing clients the ideal houses for their needs. They could be massage therapists raising the “vibration” of humanity by giving clients the kind of care that everybody ought to have. Or hair stylists spreading beauty by cutting the most flattering styles. Seven-wing-Sixes’ demand on the environment seems to be that it be engrossing. The world is their playground, and they want to experience as much of the goodness of life as they can. This makes them restless, curious spirits. Benjamin Franklin, the wit, writer, publisher, inventor, lady’s man, politician, and diplomat, is a good example of that spirit. To give an example of Seven-wing-Sixes trying to bring others along on their romp, I will mention Leonard Bernstein, who devoted the later part of his career to helping people understand and enjoy classical music as much he did. Seven-wing-Sixes’ split loyalty—to their own ideals and to the other’s needs—introduces some uncertainty into their thinking: Will their actions really be what people need, or will they have failed to live up their own standards? This uncertainty makes them defensive and a bit dependent on receiving acknowledgement that they are doing well. 29 Differentiations Since Six-Sevens use Perspective One, their channeling of the other’s desire seems more sublimated, more universalized than that of Two-Threes, who take the other’s needs upon themselves in a more personal way. Six-wing-Sevens may lean even more than the other personality in the Six-Seven structural pair toward universalized expression. Think of Tom Hanks’s war memorial projects. Seven-wing-Eight The Excitement Seeker People of this extraverted personality are fully and often fearlessly engaged in experiencing the world. Having Perspective Seven dominant keeps them fully engaged in the environment. They like enjoyable and exciting activities, which includes acquiring material goods, and when things go badly, their activities and their possessions help them escape from a harsh or boring reality. Having Perspective Eight makes Seven-wingEights want success in the eyes of the world. They may be strong leaders like John F. Kennedy, who was probably a Seven-wing-Eight. Kennedy’s ability to think counter to accepted opinions shows in his handling of the Cuban missile crisis. Or, if it's peacetime and their rebellious instincts are stronger than any desire to lead, they may more closely resemble Joan Rivers and Howard Stern, who can be blunt, callous, and even obnoxious in their continual pursuit of saying the opposite of what the world thinks they should. Although many of them would probably have liked to ambivalently include Perspective Four in their skill set (in which case they would have been Three-wingFours), Excitement Seekers instead remain enmeshed with others in a variation of Perspective Two. When they take Perspective Two, putting themselves in the position of the other, they are likely to do one of two things. Either they spurn or rebel against others' desires, or they use their knowledge of others' desires to manipulate Structural Enneagram them. Here we should keep in mind that manipulating people needn't always be a bad thing. Probable examples of personality type Seven-wingEight are Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway, Malcolm Forbes, Timothy Ferriss, Federico Fellini, Cary Grant, Harry Houdini, and Howard Stern. Other report Seven-wing-Eights are Marlene Dietrich, Joan Collins, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, Helen Gurley Brown, George Plimpton, Noel Coward, Cole Porter, David Niven, Larry King, Lauren Bacall, Judith Krantz, Jacqueline Susann, Susan Lucci, and Geraldo Rivera. In The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Crown 2007), Timothy Ferriss issues the Seven-wing-Eight manifesto, extolling the benefits and the possibility of designing a life and career that will make you happy. Oh, and, by the way, the opposite of happy is not sad, it's bored. In fact, the real meaning of happiness is excitement! (p. 51). That's where I got the name for the Seven-wing-Eight personality type: the Excitement Seeker. Eight-wing-Seven The Rebel Rebels seek autonomy and freedom. In practice, these “bad boys” tend to go for the opposite of what is— the opposite of what other people want—so that they are in fact still tethered to the other's desire, only in a negative way. Nevertheless, Eight-wing-Sevens are often able to amass the power to succeed. Lyndon B. Johnson, Miley Cyrus, Richard Bandler, Courtney Love, Allison DuBois, and Sylvia Browne are probably Eight-wing-Sevens. Other reported examples of personality type Eight-wing-Seven are G. I. Gurdjieff, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Harvey Keitel, Bella Abzug, Norman Mailer, Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Roseanne Barr, Leona Helmsley, Muhammad Ali, Richard Wagner, Sarah Palin, Al Capone, Ferdinand Marcos, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Moammar Gadhafi, Idi Amin, and Jim Jones. Eight-wing-Sevens have been said to be the most independent personality. That reputation probably rests on the fact that they expend the most effort toward achieving autonomy of desire. True autonomy of desire (Perspective Four) would, in fact, be their direction of personal growth. But people of this personality type have issues with their mothers similar to those of their cousins the Seven-wing-Eights. Even when Eight-wingSevens seem to idealize their mothers, they have underlying experiences of neglect or conditional love. 30 The more stuck Eight-wing-Sevens are in personality, the more autonomy eludes them, as they repeatedly revert to rebellion—which, far from being independence of the other’s desire is merely the inverse of it. Nevertheless, that drive for autonomy makes Eight-wing-Seven a highly motivated personality. They are often entrepreneurs, promoters, and other kinds of risk takers. If they are in politics, they may be revolutionaries, transformational leaders, or mavericks. Eight-wing-Sevens want to be in control, to be the subjective agents, mastering their objects, whether through persuasion, magnanimity, competitive advantage, or confrontation. Perhaps it is the Seven wing that makes them also want to dominate the environment. It would also be great if everyone could acknowledge their superiority. Since they want the opposite of what is, they often have a talent for reform. They can envision what is not but should be, and, often through manipulation of others, gain power to bring it into existence. But if the compulsion to go for the opposite of what others want gets too out of control, mayhem will ensue. Maybe it will be a controlled mayhem, as is fairly common in rockers like Courtney Love. On the other hand, prisons are full of Eight-wing-Sevens. What can be a talent and a strength in educated, talented, or well-connected people can become a curse for someone who is not in a position to legally grab the bull by the horns. Eight-wing-Nine The Boss Self-confident and assertive Bosses are drawn to leadership roles, whether in organizations or personal relationships. They regularly challenge others for authority but will be affable about it unless the others resist them, and then the fight is on. But when the contest is over they will probably shake hands and respect the outcome. Structural Enneagram Probable examples of personality type Eight-wingNine are Franklin D. Roosevelt, Steve Jobs, George W. Bush, John McCain, Ann Richards, Lee Iacocca, Dick Clark, Vince Lombardi, and Robert Altman. Other reported examples are Winston Churchill, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Martin Luther King, Jr., H. Ross Perot, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, Janet Reno, Charlton Heston, Johnny Cash, Barbara Walters, Ed Asner, and John Wayne. Dick Clark has been listed elsewhere as a Threewing-Two. Although he may have presented that cheery Motivator's image on camera, accounts of his producing and directing style peg him as a dictatorial, demanding Boss. Paul Newman has elsewhere been categorized as an Eight-wing-Nine, but I believe this to have been an example of confusing an actor with his roles. To me, the affable and philanthropic Newman seems to have been a Six-wing-Seven, a common type for actors. His racecar driving is probably an indicator of the Seven wing. Being the Boss is important to Eight-wing-Nines because, to the extent that perspective Eight is dominant, Eight-wing-Nines feel that they are what other people recognize them to be. They identify with their role, their performance, their status in a hierarchy. In their ideal hierarchy, the people below them recognize them as a superior and a leader and are rewarded for doing so. The people above them are their authorities, whose recognition and approval they in turn require. Even a United States president may not consider himself to be always at the top of a hierarchy since he may answer to advisers, Congress, corporate donors, or an anthropomorphic God. Eight-wing-Nines need reassurance that they are doing their duty by upholding and enforcing the will of whatever authority they subscribe to. Having perspective Five means this type is selfcontained and not dependent on atmospherics for their feelings. Using perspective Four, Eight-wing-Nines feel 31 their difference from others and don’t need to lean on others to decide what to do. In general, Eight-wing-Nines give more thought to personal or “tribal” rather than universal considerations. Their actions are governed by their allegiances—the authorities to which they bow and the in-group they protect and lead. Their own tribe is always right, as can be observed in lawsuits, in which Eight-wing-Nines sometimes refer to their side as the good guys and the other side as the bad guys. Perhaps because of the need to always know where they stand and how they can move up the ladder, Eightwing-Nines are people watchers. They can sniff out other’s motives; Phil “Dr. Phil” McGraw, who probably has this personality, was a jury selection specialist, and his ability to size people up quickly now drives his performance as a television psychologist. When overusing Perspective Eight way of thinking, everything can be “personalized,” or anthropomorphized, even countries and organizations. The United States government is still our Uncle Sam, but his name is changed depending on the president who is in office. Similarly, people personalize the Constitution when they try to interpret it through the founding fathers’ original intent. Personalities that rely on Perspective One, the binary opposite of Eight, might define good citizenship as acting in conformance with a set of guiding principles. From Perspective Eight, you would be more likely to extol loyalty—patriotism—and belief in country as though it were an actual thing rather than an abstract or legal idea. In an article called “McCain’s Embarrassing Last Act” in The Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com), Tunku Varadarajan quotes a colleague of Eight-wing-Nine John McCain’s: What you need to know is that he really does believe in duty, honor, country... and he is an American hero. But he thinks that is all there is. He has no deep interest or principle on any other subject. Every other issue has become personal with him, viewed through politics or pique. He is a patriot for whom most other issues are simply situational, which is why he can change so easily on them. So this brings up the question, do Eight-wing-Nines aspire to be moved more by principle, like a Nine-One? During the 2004 election campaign against John Kerry, probably a One-wing-Nine, George W. Bush repeatedly accused Kerry of being unprincipled and claimed the attribute of being principled for himself. Certainly, that would have been consistent with a Karl Rove tactic: find out the opposition’s strength, and then attack them for Structural Enneagram being weak in that same area. Still, Bush seemed to truly want to be able to claim this moral high ground. Nine-wing-Eight The Mediator Mediators have strong egos, but they also have the knack of winning the cooperation of others with less strife than their Eight-wing-Nine cousins. Their goodnatured, agreeable manner inspires trust. They are natural leaders who have the ability to smooth over differences and organize groups toward a common goal. Since Perspective Nine is a combination of Perspectives Five and Four, we have to look at those components first. Perspective Five gives Nine-wingEights the ability to take a step back and study the big picture. Perspective Four gives them the space to decide on their own course of action rather than being wedded to or merely reacting to other people's wants. Perspective Eight gives Nine-wing-Eights a concern with position and status. But since Eight is not the dominant type, they may be less insistent than Eightwing-Nines on being in control. As Riso and Hudson state, Nine-wing-Eights have an “ability to subordinate themselves to others” (Personality Types, 371). But they do seek and hold leadership positions. Probable examples of personality type Nine-wingEight are Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Other reported examples are Gerald Ford, Kevin Costner, Gary Cooper, Woody Harrelson, Keanu Reeves, Ingrid Bergman, Geena Davis, Sophia Loren, Ringo Starr, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Bing Crosby, Walter Cronkite, Hugh Downs, and Lady Bird Johnson. Coming out of the military, former president Dwight Eisenhower exemplifies the Nine-wing-Eight ability to occupy both subordinate and superior rungs in a hierarchy. Although Eisenhower had not seen military action, during World War II his administrative skills and talent for leadership and diplomacy propelled him up the ranks to the command of the Allied troops in Europe. 32 His success in that role later propelled him into the presidency. Perspectives Five and Four would appear to clash with Eight in that Five and Four drive interior behavior, while Eight drives external, interpersonal behavior. But, in fact, the three Perspectives hang together quite seamlessly, even though it may appear otherwise to the outside observer. In My Father at 100 (Viking 2011), Ron Reagan describes his father, Ronald Reagan, as simultaneously “warm yet remote” (p. 9). Even as he acted out his extraverted roles as father, actor, and politician, “another, quieter Reagan, just as vital, rested invisibly beneath the waves”; that quieter Reagan was “the producer and director for the man onstage” (p. 13). Ron Reagan's analysis of his father goes some distance to illustrate how Five and Four, the behind-the-scenes, producer-director perspectives, interact with the outfront perspective Eight to create the Nine-wing-Eight personality. Differentiations In the conventional Enneagram, “Nines” (a singlenumber type) are said to be peacemakers. In the Structural Enneagram, Nine-wing-Eights want everyone to accede to their authority; Nine-wing-Ones want everything to conform to their ideals. Thus would peace and harmony be achieved in differing ways for each type. Nine-wing-One The Peacemaker With their pleasant, easy-going personas, Ninewing-Ones are frequently underestimated. Some conventional Enneagram writers describe them as lazy and indifferent; however, many are quite industrious and effective. At its highest intensity, this personality melds penetrating insight into what makes people and societies tick with soaring dreams as to what they may become. Probable examples of personality type Nine-wingOne are Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Queen Elizabeth II, George Lucas, and Pope John Paul II. Other reported examples are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Disney, Jimmy Stewart, Garrison Keillor, Princess Grace of Monaco, George Lucas, and the Dalai Lama. When I have given my own sorting test based on conventional Enneagram types to Nine-wing-Ones, they resonated with six to eight of the personalities (but never with “type Eight”). Other have cited similar results as evidence that “Nines” are out of touch with themselves, Structural Enneagram that they lack self-awareness. Rather, I believe this result merely exposes deficiencies in the conventional Enneagram understanding of personalities. When Ninewing-Ones find many personality characteristics within themselves, it is probably because they are more integrated than most. Whether you see it in them or not, they sense within themselves many of the characteristics typically listed for the majority of the Enneagram points. For example, although Nine-wing-Ones generally use detached Perspective Four, they do get good rapport and typically make others feel comfortable. This leads me to conclude that most of them must not be shut out of Perspective Two since, as I believe, the ability to enter the other’s mental or perceptual space is necessary for rapport. Still, Perspective Four is often the one that is hardest for people to discern in Nine-wing-Ones. It is true that some of them may have difficulty formulating goals based on their own desires, and this can be perceived as a deficiency in a Three-type culture that valorizes goalsetting. Being less influenced than most by perspective Eight’s need for interpersonal validation, Nine-wingOnes generally take things somewhat less personally. This, along with their reliance on detached Perspective Five, allows them to see all sides of an issue. Having the One component, they have a strong sense of purpose, although it may not be a reality-shifting purpose. Finally, Nine-wing-Ones’ concerns and aspirations will be found at the intersection of reality and their ideals. If there is a good enough match, they will be content and relatively non-activist. If there is not a match, then their choice of goals is apparent: they must either withdraw from that particular environment or change it. If Nine-wing-Ones have adopted a view of themselves as intellectuals, then they will obviously need to educate an uninformed world. If they view themselves as spiritual, then they will model holiness for a materialistic society. If they have had instilled in them a sense of their obligation to lead, then they will study, plan, and act toward that end. They unpretentiously 33 allow themselves to be used and used up on behalf of their goals. One-wing-Nine The Idealist Idealists want to express and embody their values and beliefs, so they push for reforms on either a local or a more universal level. They want things to be done according to their own guiding principles. Through teaching, writing, leading, and mentoring, they attempt to convince people to overcome groupthink and adopt principled, self-reliant thought and action. One-wing-Nines, even if they work in the corporate world, are teachers, reformers, moralists, and philosophers. They are, if anything, more idealistic than the other wing in this pair. They can be somewhat ascetic, suppressing impulses that do not accord with their principles. And they can be intolerant of the weaknesses and hypocrisies of others. You are likely to find them engaged in convincing others to live up to their own professed ideals. With respect to the greater good, they see themselves as not only reformers but also rescuers, saving people from themselves and each other, but primarily from wrong thinking. In my observation, One-wing-Nines, more than any other type, have a tendency to occupy the place of an abstract idea—to represent an idea and act on its behalf. This Perspective-One ability to think from the place of an idea was illustrated by a former teacher of mine, who would muse, “I wonder what wants to be said on this topic.” People of other types don’t typically consider that an idea might “want” something. Differentiations Probable examples of personality type One-wingNine are Nancy Pelosi, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, Socrates, and George Harrison. Other reported examples are Plato, Gandhi, and Colin Powell. Typical Nine-wing-Ones are less standards-driven, less proactive, and slightly less judgmental than the typical One-wing-Nine. Consequently, Nine-wing-Ones appear to have less drive overall. One-wing-Nines appear to be more principled and purposeful than Ninewing-Ones, sometimes to the point of seeming rigid. Forward-Evolution of Consciousness Understanding your personality may be only half the story. For many people, the second half is putting that understanding to work in order to evolve consciousness to the point where they can get what they want out of life. Of course, some people are not on any such trajectory; they are right where they should be for now. But for those wanting to upshift personal consciousness to a higher level, the Structural Enneagram is a good place to start. It should be obvious to those familiar with NLP that the Structural Enneagram is full of implications for change work using NLP techniques. The Structural Enneagram is also highly useful in the interpretation of dreams, fantasies, and behavioral patterns. Structural Enneagram I continue to research and write about the Structural Enneagram and its applications, and in the coming months I will be making more of that work available. Please check my website for updates. Jean Adeler, Ph.D. StructuralEnneagram.com September 14, 2014 34