"You don’t need to hold back when giving harsh and difficult feedback to an Enneagram 8, they are tough and can take it". "Give the Enneagram 4 the role of selecting the Christmas decorations because they have good aesthetics", "Don’t bother inviting the Enneagram 5 to the party, they probably won’t come anyway." -Sound familiar?
These are the kind of comments that are sometimes passed around by those who have only a superficial understanding of the Enneagram. However, with some real insight into the depth and complexity of this tool, these are soon revealed to be myths or even stereotypes.
Despite the argument that the Enneagram is not about ‘boxing’ people into narrow-minded stereotypes, the Enneagram Types are often used to do just that. For some, these boxes are comforting, but they represent an oversimplification of the rich, complex Enneagram framework.
Watering down the Enneagram leads to crude and limited interpretations of it. Thus, over time, myths and misinterpretations develop.
Our intention here is to uncover some of the most problematic Enneagram Type myths and to ‘myth-bust’ them with some good, old-fashioned Enneagram facts. So, if you love the Enneagram and become frustrated when you hear narrow stereotypes being shared, settle in for some reassuring reading as we bust these myths wide open.
The Action Triad
Learning and development has recently become an important focus in organisations – and, in a time of rapid change, the highly diversified, knowledge-intensive jobs of today demand more personalised learning paths tailored to the individual as well as to the role or task.