Other Assessments

Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and my blog of choice each day talks about the limitations imposed by the fear originating in what he calls our lizard brain.

“The lizard is a physical part of your brain, the pre-historic lump near the brain stem that is responsible for fear and rage and reproductive drive.”

This fear shows up as resistance that infects the voice in our head we listen to telling us “to go slow, be careful, not to risk, not to try, not to rock the boat, not to stand out etc. etc,)

There is a distinction I would like to add to Seth’s wisdom that comes from understanding the instinctual subtypes of Enneagram. In other words we are not all created equal in our motivation in this area. We are driven by needs for intimacy, for social needs and for security, safety and self care or self preservation needs. BUT we do not have these in the same intensity or priority. You can watch the clip of Enneagram author Helen Palmer below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86IVsoiqTE

If you recognize that self preservation or security needs are highly important to you, you need to factor that into how you decide what to listen to. These needs are not going to go away nor can you simply dismiss them. However, it seems to me that people with strong security needs often pay a price that they don’t acknowledge consciously. They will stay in a relationship or difficult work situation long past the time to take action because the familiar discomfort of the current conditions seems less painful than the discomfort of the what is unknown and insecure.

Avoiding is not a strategy or plan that works long term. Don’t wait for a crisis in order to make a plan of action. You can make a plan that is rational and well considered and respectful of who you are as a person. Sacrificing your power by relinquishing the steering wheel for the illusion of safety is anything but safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86IVsoiqTE

This is a tale of apples and oranges.. The MBTI and Enneagram are two very different personality typologies which look at very different things. They work well when used in conjunction to provide a fuller understanding of what make us tick just as apples and oranges both contribute to making an excellent fruit salad.

The MBTI is based on the work of Karl Jung and it looks at the conscious functions of taking in information through the functions of Sensing and Intuition and making decisions through Thinking or Feeling. The underlying assumption is that one way of doing this is not inherently better than another. It is a preference one has that is in fact not an indication of skill or talent but of what is often most accessible and therefore most often practiced. The 4 letter code that makes up the 16 different MBTI types helps to indicate how these functions interconnect. Most MBTI literature focuses on the positive or more neutral aspects of the types before looking at what happens “in the grip” of stress.

The Enneagram has a history that is more esoteric. It dates back before the mystic schools of Islam where the Sufis used aspects of the Enneagram in the spiritual development of initiates. When the Enneagram was brought to the West the first teachers were exploring questions in psychology concerned with dysfunction. The Enneagram looks at the world of the unconscious and how the 9 different worldviews outlined by the Enneagram influence our orientation to the world. The current teachers of the Enneagram have shifted the focus from the shadow aspects of personality to focusing on real world applications of the model for business and self development.

Mapping One onto the Other
There isn’t a direct correlation- hence the apples and oranges analogy. There are some things that may be typical however given the understanding that there is an exception to every one of these forced correlations.

• Enneagram 5 and I,T
• Enneagram 8 and E
• Enneagram 2 and F
• Enneagram 7 and E,P
• Enneagram 1 and J
• Enneagram 3 and E
• Enneagram 9 and I
• Enneagram 4 and I,N,F

Some authors and researchers such as Tom Flautt and Renee Baron with Elizabeth Wagele have mapped this even more extensively than my very limited correlations. They too add the cautionary tale of exceptions being a distinct possibility.

Using these tools

The MBTI has a validated inventory that has one publisher so that it is readily recognized across sectors as a valuable tool in business for team building and personal development. People can recognize areas of possible strength and what else may need looking after. The downside is the perception that it can be learned and applied in a one time event. Without reinforcement the MBTI type may be forgotten and shelved MBTI-amnesia!

The Enneagram has a variety of assessments that have been tested to various degrees. It comes out of the oral tradition and is best learned by watching participants discuss their type in a workshop setting. Then you can see the physical characteristics, patterns of speech as well as hearing typical ways of focusing attention. Even though it may not have been as rigorously tested for validity the Enneagram has its own distinct advantages in certain circumstances. It too can be effective for personal development and creating understanding in teams. The Enneagram is uncannily accurate in capturing core dynamics. In part this means that the disowned shadow elements are also on the table from the beginning and some people find this challenging.

My personal take is that the Enneagram is a harder “sell” in a business environment, but a very important tool that anyone serious about leadership ought to consider. It isn’t the easiest route to take but the rewards of self knowledge at the deepest level make it worth the effort. At the end of the day real leaders need to dig deep to take people into uncharted territory.

Knowing both tools adds the distinctions that make for a truer picture. Mastery is in the ability to make these kinds of distinctions.

Please don’t make me choose I am delighted to have both in my toolkit.

Question:

I was wondering if you could give any advice on the best way to become a Personality Type professional?

An answer that is 100% opinion:

Hmmmm… this question brings even more questions to mind.

• Why? What is important to you about this?
• Is a singular focus such as type professional even a viable option in this day of shrinking training dollars?
• If the MBTI, for example,  is a tool, what is the ideal context for someone to invest in developing themselves in this area through training?

My thinking on this is that the MBTI or DISC or Enneagram or Social Styles or Insights  are all wonderful tools that are adjunct to other areas of expertise. In an organizational setting for example these tools can be of value for team building and / or for leadership development. The question I have is what else do you need to bring to the table in order to facilitate this kind of experience so that the corporate sponsor gets the benefit from their investment. It seems to me that it is a challenge to rely on knowledge of a tool alone. These tools are best used in context. If you have experience working in an HR capacity or as a consultant or coach with additional experience working in organizational settings and in training design, then you begin to have something to bring to the table. It is a hard “go” to come armed only with an assessment tool and have someone recognize that or you as a solution to a current problem.

Having laid out my cautionary message, if you are truly interested in any of these tools, I would recommend immersion until you have ownership of the theory combined with a long list of experiences using the tool with others. It takes time and experience to see that how something may appear to be in written form often takes on a different flavour in the nuanced world of real life. Once you have ownership of one tool you may see that there is another assessment that will compliment the work that you are doing and the needs of your clients: for instance, I  found that using the MBTI together with the Hay Group’s Emotional Competency Inventory provides a solid platform to support leadership development.

For every type tool there will be a training that suits your needs best. Some things to consider are reputation, location, advanced training and support as well as cost of the training organization you are considering..  Since I am a Canadian, I often make decisions based on what is offered in Canada and whether I prefer what is available  in the US.  (e.g. this would be Psychometrics for the MBTI and a trip to an Enneagram teacher of choice to the US.) This is partially personal preference as well as what fits the needs of your clients. If you collaborate with other professionals who LOVE and use DISC with their clients, you might want to consider how much work you will be doing together and the value of having a common language.  Research your options by talking to the people you wish to collaborate with, by researching what is already in place in the organizations you work for or hope to work with. Finally investigate the trainings offered by the publishers of the tool that interests you, find out about other specialized training organizations that may offer training (I am thinking here of  the great work done by Otto Kroeger Associates) and type specific associations such as the Association for Psychological Type International.

Do you describe yourself as a Personality Type Professional? What is your experience and recommendation?

Getting to know who we are ought to be easy. We look at ourselves in the mirror everyday. That only gives us a snapshot or perhaps a delusion if we think that is all there is. Using the MBTI as a tool for gaining self knowledge is an excellent choice, but as my response to this reader’s request illustrates it isn’t always accomplished with a first glance.

Can you do an article about ENFP and INFP differences?
I’m NFP but don’t know whether E or I.
(To make things more complicated I’m Enneagram 3 which is externally focused, so it is confusing me.)

When people first meet the MBTI model, they often look at it as a collection of preferences. So they try to decide am I really “Extroverted” or am I more “Introverted”. The four letters that make up the MBTI type are really a code that determines how the four functions of Intuiting, Sensing, Thinking and Feeling interact. This means that a person with preferences for INFP has a different dominant or leading function than a person with ENFP preferences. I sometimes think of dominant function as a persons first language. While we use all functions they are not all used equally and this flavours how we show up in the world.

The INFP leads with Introverted Feeling. They approach life looking through a lens of what is important and what is of value in a universal context. They can see the subtle differences in a constellation of factors such as the relative value of all the component parts involved – the various groups, the individual people, their actions, the beliefs and thinking underlying the issue. All of this is measured against their own inner value system to see what is in alignment and what isn’t.

The INFP “loves” the authentic in people and draws that out in them. Integrity, harmony, values and identity are words that resonate with the INFP. They are interested in what is deep and meaningful to the individual and they are not interested in people who don’t live up to their ideals.

On the other hand ENFPs lead with Extroverted Intuition. Having this dominant function is like having radar for the unspoken, the random occurrences surrounding a situation and a sudden knowing of what it all means. Brainstorming is like oxygen and the ENFP floats possibilities out to see which ones will rise to the top. They often follow several tangents at once without attachment and this ability allows them to navigate change as part of exploring life.

The ENFP is an inspiration junkie and wants to inspire and be inspired. They are known for their enthusiasm but have to watch to temper their enthusiasm with reality.

Your Dominant Function
Again it comes down to how do you know? The best way is always to combine taking the MBTI assessment tool through a certified practitioner combined with the coaching they will offer to do a self- determination of type.

I also recommend getting curious over a period of time and becoming a detached observer of your behaviour. On a personal note- even though I spend oodles of time alone and have become less and less social over time – the ENFP dominant function of Extroverted Intuition stands out a mile. Not only do I experience it I hear feed-back from others that this is what they experience too. At the same time I know that while I appreciate deep meaningful conversation I have no interest in sustaining that in the same way an INFP can and does.

The Step 2 Distinctions
To go back to the attitudes of Introversion and Extroversion for a moment. When I use the MBTI, I prefer the Step 2 inventory which breaks down each of the preference pairs into 5 sub-pairs.
People may be out-of-preference on one side of the equation that differs from their type code and this not only adds a layer of complexity but also explains a lot.

One individual who stands out had results that said he was ENTP but he was out-of-preference on the Introverted side for 2 of the 5 distinctions for Extroversion and Introversion. He determined that INTP was a better fit for who he was and how he operated in real life. The team that reported to him also gained an understanding of how to best communicate with him. They could see that he “went to his cave” literally and figuratively at times and yet he would respond when asked so that they had permission to ask.

Also I have seen it work that understanding potential out-of-preference distinctions allowed the person to be really comfortable with their MBTI results and yet fit in this seemingly confusing aspect of their behaviour. One person who typed as an Extrovert was out-of-preference for one of the 5 distinctions on the Introverted side. He was able to explain to his team that there were times were he felt quite shy. The team members confessed that they had experienced this and felt that understanding this distinction helped them not to take this shift in behaviour personally.

As for the Enneagram
Each of these personality tools needs to be first looked at on their own before trying to see how they work along side each other. They do not readily overlap in all places and even so experts do not agree on how they do. My ENFP preferences are not typical for an Enneagram 6 but make sense to me when I see my strong 7 wing.

My suggestion is to look at these 2 tools as separate entities for now. The Enneagram is not a fast study IMHO so be okay with being curious. You are simply fascinating and worth the time investment to explore.

I’d love to hear if this helped you come to a landing place and also love to hear how others resolve MBTI type confusion.

A reader asks “What do you think about a (F) 4 and a (M) 5 in relationship?”

It is not the best use of the Enneagram or any model of personality to use it as a predictor. However the Enneagram can be a resource to understand a particular dynamic that may be currently influencing the interaction between two people or that might potentially influence their relationship. Don Riso and Russ Hudson talk about Levels of Development for each type. All types can be in relationship with any other type. The biggest influencer is the health of an individual. Health in this sense has to do with what level of development the person “hangs out in” the most – how aware they are about the impact they are making on others, how mindful they are in the present and how much they take responsibility for their actions. Anyone addicted to the hero, villain or victim role can prove toxic to any relationship.

Most of the time people don’t drive out the Enneagram in their everyday conversations about how they are getting along. When something does arise that interrupts the connection or natural flow between two people, the Enneagram shines a bright light on what is in play and can show a way to shift the energy of what is happening.

Both Four and Five are withdrawing types, so they can be caught up in their own interior world. For the Five that world is one of intellectual abstraction. The Five pulls back from the impingement of emotional entanglement to observe and gather information. The Four is all about understanding the territory of the heart and the subtleties of emotional tonality. The trick is to find the way into each others world. The Four will need to give space for the Five and modify their considerable demand for attention. Consider the alternative – the more the Four demands a “connection” the further the Five retreats to protect their need for the safety of emotional detachment.

The Five can benefit hugely from understanding the world of feelings and learning to recognize and stay with their own feelings. While Fours and Fives are on the opposite poles of emotional connection, they have the most to learn from each other. This pairing can go either way ending with both parties contracting further into their own interior realm or meeting in the middle and consequently balancing out their own tendencies.

For more information see Helen Palmer’s “The Enneagram in Love and Work”. Riso and Hudson have a rich on-line resource for members.

As a final comment – my aunt once gave me a life lesson for which I am grateful. She questioned me about the word “relationship”. She said that it was LOVE that mattered. That shifts the conversation and the kinds of things that matter, where you focus your attention and what you are willing to do to nurture the love.

In self-development work it seems to me that people often fall in love with the first assessment tool that offered them some insight. The Enneagram is that tool for me. This model of nine worldviews and ways of focusing attention was the first window that allowed me to see that how I was in the world made sense in the larger scheme of things. At the same time it held up a mirror so that for the first time I understood the concept of “blindspot” and how mine played out in my thinking and behaviour.

During a recent visit to Victoria British Columbia I attended an Introduction to the Enneagram workshop hosted by Kira MacDuffee and Edward Colley. Both Kira and Edward use the Enneagram as a lens in their work with clients as Clinical Counsellors so they have an intimate familiarity with the model.

While their presentation was chock full of useful and practical applications of the the model what I appreciated most was just how grounded their teaching was in the deeper meanings offered by the Enneagram. One of the things that initially appealed to me about the Enneagram was illustrated by the respectful approach taken by my first teachers. Kira and Edward made a point of setting the training in a historical context and helping us make the distinction between finding our type as an orientation – a home base and using it as yet another way to excuse or restrict ourselves. They reinforced the importance of not using the model label but rather to understand possible dynamics between essence qualities and how our personality acts to compensate for loss of connection with that essence quality.

The participants in the workshop responded to this approach willingly engaging in exercises designed to mark out how aspects of the various types are alive for each of us. One woman, an Enneagram Four expressed the impact of taking an online Enneagram assessment, ” When I got my Enneagram results it was one of the few times I’d felt seen and by a computer at that!”

The reminder that the Enneagram is a map of how we have lost our connection to our central nature, a look at our strategy to avoid pain was enough to remind me why I fell in love with it in the first place. It has helped me develop compassion for myself and others.

Thank you Kira and Edward

My ENFP MBTI preferences would indicate that my type could be drained by details and work that is sequential and “close-in”. The truth is that I have been officially obsessed with learning how to use Wordpress – specifically the Thesis theme. I am building a new home for my currently available paintings with lots of insights into the life of an artist and tips for buying art.

Why build this alone? You ask. I have been wondering this myself as I am way over my head and out of my ENFP comfort zone. The Reiss Desire Profile provides some insight.

My strongest drivers of behaviour in terms of motivation come from 4 of the 16 Reiss Desires – Expediency, Independence, Acceptance and Curiosity.

The need for Expediency flavours almost everything I do. It is also know as Low Honour and typically I am not interested in the tried and true 12 steps if I think 3 or 5 will get me started. I want to get things rolling. When I have to wait for a webmaster to make changes on my website, it is a rare form of torture for me. So much better to know how to do things myself – the moment I want them done. This goes hand in hand with Independence. Asking for help is not an easy thing although I am consciously trying to open and shift in this area because I believe that the way of wisdom is to tap into the wisdom of others.

Curiosity plays a role here because I absolutely LOVE learning and the internet is a generous teacher. Not only can you find wonderful tutorials online for just about anything, it also gives a sense of being part of something greater than myself when I find the help online that I need.

The fourth component Acceptance plays a small role here as well. When I finally figure out what I want to do with my site I do not want to have to open up the conversation again in order to get someone else such as the webmaster on board. If for some reason they do not agree with my approach, I am thrown into the agony of second-guessing what I am doing.

So the net result is that learning to do something I am not really cut out for makes perfect sense. The thing I need to pay attention to is the energy costs. It drains me mentally and emotionally and frequent breaks are required.

I would be embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to get as far as I am with the new blog I am building. I still have a long way to go and staying the course to get all the details in place is a challenge for my ENFP “starting” nature. The upside is a feeling of accomplishment and pride that I could learn something NEW.

BTW- I have had some very helpful feedback so far and would appreciate any other wisdom. I will incorporate your advice in order to get this site bright and shining and fully “visitor” friendly.

“Values in Action” – now there’s a phrase you don’t hear every day but the reality is that these underpin our moment to moment activities.

The last two days I co-facilitated with two masterful coaches/consultants Sara Thompson and Elaine Maxwell. Sara and Elaine had worked with this group previously and during that time they had introduced and used Seligman’s “Signature Strengths”. From time to time during this session either Sara or Elaine would observe how a person was speaking from their strengths. As the two days unfolded it was fascinating to see how the combination of a person’s top 5 strengths and the influence of their bottom strengths shaped their perspective and their behaviours.

The twenty-four strengths are explored in Seligman’s book “Authentic Happiness” and there is also an on-line assessment available at http://www.authentichappiness.com Of course at the end of day one, I had to dig out my copy to refresh my memory about my own top five signature strengths:

• Appreciation of Beauty
• Ingenuity
• Curiosity
• Judgment
• Love of Learning

Almost sounds like a recipe for an artist/coach who has just spent the last year learning all about Social media, blogging and Wordpress – don’t you think?.

The one thing that stood out for me watching how Sara and Elaine coached around these strengths, is how if any are overused they can also become a source of problem area for the person. Hmmmm – a personal lesson here maybe? Perhaps instead of continually following my almost insatiable desire for what’s new, what’s next I could stop and follow through with what I have already learned and stay with executing and getting results from all that learning and exploration… Food for thought.

I had an experience this week where I was wearing the wrong hat during a conversation. My fall back position is that of coach. And when I talk about coaching I mean partnering with someone to get clear on what’s important, to try on some possibilities and to decide next steps. This process is all about what the person being coached is ready, willing and able to do and nothing to do with introducing my approach or pushing any agenda I may have.

Being an Enneagram Six helps in that my natural inclination is not to assume authority. In theory that supports my intention not to push for my solutions to be introduced or championed. My goal is to be 100% there to pay attention to whether the solutions that are explored “fit” the person and the situation.

Well this natural inclination of the Six not to want to be the authority can backfire when that is what you have signed up to do… bring your expertise in a particular area to the table – that is. During the conversation I was asking questions, when all the other participants wanted was to be given advice. It took someone to say just “tell us what to do” for me to wake up and switch hats. Of course I was able to share my experience complete with the typically Sixish cautionary warning, and all was good.

I’m actually not sure what general conclusion I want to offer. I know for me personally, it was a friendly elbow in the side to not only stay in the conversation but also to be equally aware of what is going on on the periphery. I might have noticed that there was some frustration and wondered what to do about that. Think about what cues you use to switch from wearing one hat to another.

The learning never ends! And as Martha says, “That’s a good thing.”

We are wired to try to make sense of the world, but when it comes to the MBTI – it simply does not explain everything.

When something isn’t working about the behaviour of someone else, it is tempting to develop theories to explain what is happening. If people know the MBTI they may use type or preference differences as their rationale. When the statements they make take the form of sweeping generalizations “I don’t like Extraverts they always yell instead of talking and I can’t hear myself think.” there is the possibility of creating much more harm than good.

So before we go painting everyone of a certain preference with the same paint brush let’s take a breath. Perhaps this person’s behaviour is objectionable because of their level of development. There might also be several other possible explanations that aren’t about personality type.

The Enneagram addresses this issue in a direct manner. The way the Enneagram is presented by Riso and Hudson adds levels of development to their look at type. At higher levels a person tends toward being open and expansive as opposed to restricting and reacting at the lower levels. It is very helpful to see behaviours that are healthy and how type may function in an unhealthy way. This saves labeling a certain negative behaviour as being a characteristic of the type as a whole. The individual in question may simply be less developed and have behaviour that reflects this.

HINT: Words like “always, never, everyone, everywhere” mark out something that needs to be examined a little closer to find the truth.

HINT #2: Consider this quote from Jung himself

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.