She Said, She Said

You may have noticed that these two recent posts (How to determine your Enneagram type: some recommendations and Self-typing advice from Cindi) deal with the same topic, but don't include the same information. There's a reason for this: when I told Cindi I was writing on this topic, we agreed she would write on the same subject without being tainted by reading what I wrote. This will be a recurring feature: She Said, She Said.

You may also have noticed that our take on the matter did disagree. (I said I start by giving a person three tests and seeing if a pattern emerges; Cindi said this way lies madness. Cindi said she starts by suggesting they read an introductory book cover to cover, but that some people won't; I -- agree.) I have sent the series of three email tests to people who live far away or who I want to get some info on immediately, but I've had good luck with lending out The Wisdom of the Enneagram, too. SOME people both will read it, and can see their type from reading it. To be specific, one was clearly a 5, read the book, and said he was a 5. Another seemed like a 1 to Cindi and me, read the book, said he was a 3, Cindi and I said have you considered 1, he said yeah but I'm a 3, we said ok, and he turned out to be a 3 -- big-time. Another friend I lent it to said he was a 1, and I realized he was right (I had been suspecting 6, but 1 fit better.) But there have been others who have taken the book but not been able to determine their type. I think some types have a harder time hearing "The ringing bell" Cindi talks about. I know I did!