# What are things to look for when trying to figure out someone's enneagram type?



## Vexed (Jan 28, 2012)

Any particular phrase or thing they'd bring up? I know there's this: http://personalitycafe.com/articles/104149-enneagram-talk-styles.html

Anything you can specifically ask that would at least determine if they are a head / heart / etc.?


----------



## enneathusiast (Dec 15, 2012)

I haven't read the whole thing myself, but this may be useful in some way.

The Trouble with Typing by Tom Condon


----------



## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

Looking for phrases/buzzwords is a pretty poor way of typing others. It mostly rests on stereotypes and hasty generalizations; it tends to reduce nuance and complexity down to caricature. There's no shortcut to deciphering type, not your own, not anyone else's. You would have to observe them for a while, ideally. You would also need to get a better understanding of their motivations and fears etc., which means not just taking their self-reporting at face value. Over time, patterns develop that point more in the direction of one (or some) type(s) than others. It's a process of elimination from there onwards. 

You could have a look at the Enneagram questionnaire that's stickied. I co-created it (note: self-promotion XD) and am working on co-editing the second which is a spin-off off the original. And, it has great questions (note: tooting my own horn) that you need to look into. The head/gut/heart triads are all covered. 

@_enneathusiast_

Interesting link. Some parts were better than others. But, overall, it was an an enjoyable read.


----------



## SharkT00th (Sep 5, 2012)

First thing to do if your looking to type someone? THIS! the fact that you are looking to type someone, it's am impossible task really you just don't know their motivation. Even if someone tells you what they are thinking of doing, their true motivations may be buried under their neurosis. The enneagrams are designed for self-therapy, basically it allows anyone to turn into their therapist and look through their own issues to find out who they are.


----------



## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

SharkT00th said:


> First thing to do if your looking to type someone? THIS! the fact that you are looking to type someone, it's am impossible task really you just don't know their motivation. Even if someone tells you what they are thinking of doing, their true motivations may be buried under their neurosis. The enneagrams are designed for self-therapy, basically it allows anyone to turn into their therapist and look through their own issues to find out who they are.


Difficult, complicated, not guaranteed to be 100% accurate always but not "impossible". I don't buy that it's "impossible" to type someone else.


----------

