Using the Enneagram to navigate business relationships

I remember the first time I read my Enneagram profile type, it was like looking at my own personality source code. If you don't know the Enneagram, it's a "model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types", according to Wikipedia.

I tell people it's like, if we live in a simulation, this is the source code for all personalities. Whether we live in a simulation or not, I don't know, I hope not 🤷‍♂️

Reading up on Enneagram Type helped me understand that what felt so draining to me at work was actually normal for my personality type. It helped me understand what I look like as a healthy version of myself, and what I look like when I'm in an unhealthy state. Once I started understanding that this was my own personality source code, I started wondering if it could help me understand my friends and my co-workers.

I began looking at my co-workers with this new lens and I started to understand how they operated within their Enneagram Type.

My one co-worker is an Enneagram Type 5, also called "The Investigator". He's like a savant when it comes to both development, and design.

Trying to get a hold of him can sometimes be really difficult. He also seems overwhelmed at times which makes me want to help in any way I can. I'm a Type 8, also called "The Challenger". I get really energized with new ideas, I'm not the most organized person but when it comes to competition I really want to win, it's inherent within my "Challenger" personality type. When I'm at my best, I'm helping other people, and I get joy from it.

Anyways, my co-worker; the Enneagram Type 5. I love working with him, but sometimes I just feel like he isn't in to it like I am. I'm bouncing-off-the-walls-with-excitement-can't-stop-talking-about-it kind of mood, whereas he's usually sitting back and just assessing things, or even wondering out loud why it might not work out.

I get drained when people poke holes in my ideas, but for him, he actually gets emotionally-charged situations and open-ended projects and when communicating with him, he needs plenty of space to think about the topic.

In the past when I communicated with him, I would be usually very excited (emotionally-charged situation), probably haven't planned my project in a detailed fashion, and was draining him by a lack of privacy and personal space messaging him all the time about it.

None of these things I am naturally inclined to do, but the Enneagram helps me understand that if I want to have a great relationship with my co-worker, it's important to speak to him in a way that brings life to him. So if he's not reciprocating in the way that I normally do when talking about a project or idea, that's because he's his own unique person, and his tendencies happen to correlate with what the Enneagram would call the "Type 5 - The Investigator."

So, each day I work on learning a bit more about my co-workers Enneagram Types so I can internalize it. Once I'm able to internalize it, I can always be mindful about what energizes them and stressed them out at work so I can maximize their potential and happiness, while creating an awesome company culture that will attract better and better talent.

Ennie is a company I founded out of learning more about the Enneagram and wanting to apply it to the workplace. I built it as a No Code project. We provide a custom company directory for you and your employees/co-founders that goes over their Enneagram type and how to best interact with them in situations like meetings, emails, presentations and more. You can have instant access to your employees Enneagram Type to always be reminded on how to bring the most joy to them and maximize their happiness.

If you want to have your own company directory, you can sign up here: https://dashboard.ennie.co/signup or learn more about Ennie here:https://www.ennie.co/