Enneagram Monthly- Spiral Dynamics and the Enneagram #2

Part 2

Patricia: It is a bit like in the Enneagram. Any ego can feel and does feel envy once in a while. But for Fours, it is the core emotion of the way they function. It is structural, whereas for any other type, it is circumstantial and therefore less important. In the same way, fear is structural for the first six Spirals' levels, whereas it is circumstantial for the following ones.

Jack: You mentioned two features of the 2nd Tier levels.

Chris: Let's make it quite clear that the repeat of a basic six systems is just a hypothesis – a fascinating one, but only a hypothesis. That said, the second feature that seems to be shared by the seventh and eighth levels is that, little by little, a global awareness of what all other levels bring appears, as well as a need to connect internal and external forces and to accept simultaneously order and chaos. As Graves said, it's simply using more of the brain that is there.

Jack: How does it show?

Natasha: There comes a time when individuality, sacrificed in GREEN, comes back. Collective values keep their meaning, but belonging with the peer group is no longer an end in itself. YELLOW appears and this is also a relativistic, situational and interdependence-oriented system. In YELLOW the individual considers that the world is at risk and neither change nor lack of change is the norm. Thus, uncertainty and chaos are inevitable and ambiguity is a totally acceptable way of life.

Chris: YELLOW approaches this world with systemic thinking. It notices interdependences and accepts with flexibility differences and flows. In YELLOW more important than integration is the idea of differentiation. There is no need or compulsion to get finished, simply to understand something is the key. Those in this system favor being functional and dislike things which are not, often authoritarianism and competition are dislikes as well and when faced with this, if they can't change it, they simply vacate the scene.

Jack: Does the individual/community switch continue after YELLOW?

Natasha: Apparently, yes. After YELLOW comes TURQUOISE. But YELLOW is already extremely rare. Probably no more that a minute percent of the world's population have regular access to that level. TURQUOISE is even harder to find. Graves thought he had a handful of cases and we have found none in our current research. The current description of TURQUOISE is imprecise and will have to be refined and completed as this level emerges.

Chris: It is an example of a field in which the difference between surface values and deep values is essential. The need to preserve all life goes way beyond the 'common good' speech sometimes heard in ORANGE, or the concept of 'extended community' often found in GREEN, or even the connection to elements that exists in PURPLE. We have already talked about it, but I insist because it is one of the essential points to really understand the model.

Jack: One of the points? Could you give us the others?

Chris: It is important to understand that no level is better than any other. One level is good if it enables people to adjust to their life conditions. That is all. There is no reason to move to the next level just for the sake of it. That would be an ORANGE worldview, focused on the idea of progress, and willingly competing to reach the Spiral's highest possible level. Among other things, it is certain that you are not smarter when you reach one level or another.

Fabien: In a magazine I read, a person (we will kindly keep the name secret) describes three levels after TURQUOISE, levels that person represents, of course. I even read a text about a Third Tier!

Natasha: We see that all the time and it's evidence that they have done neither their homework nor research involving clear understanding of this model. Grandiose claims without fact or data are very easy to make and often come from a kind of ORANGE hypertrophy. Many of the same people believe it is their mission to grow people. There is no reason to force other people to change. Graves had a great phrase he liked repeating: "Damn it all, people have a right to be who they are!"

Jack: Are there some other points you would like to talk about?

Natasha: We have also mentioned that Spiral Dynamics is not a typology. No one is a YELLOW or a BLUE. People, at some point in their lives, in a given context, can express one or more levels. This dynamic, this complexity makes Grave's model so rich – systems in, not types of people.

Fabien: This is also important from our point of view. Since it is not a typology, Spiral Dynamics does not compete with the Enneagram. Thus the point is not to make connections between two models aiming for the same goal, but to understand how they can complement and enrich each other.

Jack: It is true that, listening to the description of the different levels, it was sometimes difficult not to think of certain Types in the Enneagram. RED and Type Eight, or ORANGE and Type Three, for instance. How can we put all this together?

Fabien: We have been observing and asking questions of people around us for almost two years to see if and how both systems can coexist. The results of that survey support the validity of both systems and respect their specifics. Every morning, when we wake up, we are convinced that we are the same person we were the night before, and ten years before, and in our childhood. Yet, and it may sound like a paradox, we also have the feeling that we have deeply changed.

Patricia: The Enneagram describes with extraordinary subtlety the steady part of our personality. It is the enneatype we keep from the beginning of our life until the end. Which doesn't keep the Enneagram from being dynamic and from integrating a certain number of changes, with the growth of the wings, or with the disintegration or integration process. This process represents a major psycho-spiritual evolution, that independent of the changes described by Spiral Dynamics.

Fabien: Spiral Dynamics describes with as much subtlety as the Enneagram another aspect of our personality: the way we adjust to life conditions, and the way we fit into a social structure. We think that, for a more thorough understanding of how we and others function, we need to use both approaches together. Our observations show that both systems can be used fully.

Patricia: All Types in the Enneagram can have access to the Spiral's levels…

Fabien: … and all levels can be experienced by all Types!

Jack: Are you pulling the 'all-is-in-everything-and-vice-versa' trick on me?

Fabien: Yes. All combinations are possible, but they are not equal. Let's talk about the concept of affinity between a Type and a Spiral's level. A Type may feel comfortable in one particular level because it enables the Type to fully express its personality; or on the contrary, feel uncomfortable because that level does not match its natural way of functioning.

Patricia: This is a bit like travelling. In some countries, you feel immediately comfortable; the culture seems familiar. In other countries, people look unfamiliar to you and you need more time to adjust.

Fabien: In the process of growing up, humans go through different levels of the Spiral. Some levels feel more natural and comfortable than others. A person might find it hard to leave one level and go to the next, even if life conditions require it. In Enneagram terms we would say that in such instances an individual rigidly clings to their personality instead of adjusting to changes in the environment. So certain levels encourage clinging to the personality which slows down the adjustment to the new environment.

Jack: Could you give us some examples?

Fabien: Sure. The chart sums up how each Type can feel at home or not in each Spiral's level:

cp=counterphobic - s=social subtype - x=sexual subtype a=mental as support centre

A complete discussion of this chart requires a thorough knowledge of Spiral Dynamics. However, we can rapidly go through the main aspects for each enneatype.

Patricia: Ones are particularly comfortable in BLUE. The existence of an absolute Truth, of specific rules defining the right way of doing things, suit Type One. The negative, sometimes punishing attitude towards behaviours seen as deviant easily matches an egotic Type One's functioning. The sacrifice of Self required by this level is easy. Of course that does not mean that all Ones are centred in BLUE. It means that for Ones reaching the BLUE level in the Spiral is easy and once there, it's difficult to detach from BLUE. Because they feel so at ease in there, Ones prefer to 'live' there and even when circumstances require a move to ORANGE, Ones put up more resistance than other types.

Fabien: Twos do not like RED. RED's impulsiveness and potential to explode frightens them. They feel much more comfortable in GREEN, which is sensitive and takes others more into consideration; but that level is probably too egalitarian for them. Twos are one of the Types who haven't found a world yet that seems perfect for them.

Patricia: Thanks to their ability to adapt and to their passion, deceit, Threes are able to feel comfortable in any level. But individualistic, opportunity-driven, competitive ORANGE is their favorite field. That causes a big confusion between Threes and ORANGE . We will get back to that later.

Fabien: Like Twos, Fours have not yet found a world that suits their ego. Fours are sensitive, caring and respectful of others, that's why they could easily like GREEN. But GREEN implies a level of sacrifice of the Self that Fours are not comfortable with.

Patricia: Rationality and scientific progress are an ORANGE feature and perfectly suit Fives. However they prefer YELLOW which relates to the world through mental thought and information gathering. To the contrary, Fives cannot bear BLUE's existence of an absolute and indisputable Truth.

Fabien: Sixes can feel comfortable in strong, hence secure, social structures: PURPLE with its traditions, its referring to authority and its wish to find an explanation for the world; GREEN with its importance of a strong belonging to a community; and somehow, BLUE, there again, with its authority, rules and belonging. But counterphobic behaviors can lead types Six to reject those same systems.

Patricia: Highly developed Type Seven's individualism, which is centred around avoiding pain and satisfying impulses, deeply connects them to RED. Sevens also feel comfortable in ORANGE: they share its wish for material success, the same progress-orientated optimism, the same taste for change and technology. If Types Seven manage to discipline their mind, YELLOW, which is curious and understanding-oriented, can play a prominent part.

Fabien: RED, which favours strength, refuses to be dominated, likes fighting to get power and control is Eights' big temptation, the level in which they can satisfy their taste for action. On the other hand, GREEN's search for consensus, and the rhythm that goes with it, can seem unbearably soft to type Eight.

Patricia: Last but not least, Nines. They are horrified by RED's impulsive violence. They feel reassured by BLUE's traditionalism; but GREEN, with its search for consensus inside the community and its purpose to belong represents their main values but also their potential shortcomings: vagueness, inaccuracy and indecisiveness.

Jack: This idea also appears in the Enneagram: our biggest strength is our biggest weakness. Because we know how to function in a level, we tend to get stuck in it. On the other hand, we can miss interesting information from levels that seem initially off-putting. Using Spiral Dynamics and the Enneagram in tandem can help therapists and coaches fill the gaps in their understanding of client behaviour.

Fabien: Not only therapists and coaches, but also parents can help their children as they grow up. On a personal level, we can understand our own reluctance and difficulties. What's more, bringing both systems closer enables us to foresee difficulties adjusting to structures. For instance, if you hire a Seven in a department that is centered in BLUE, you may have problems.

Jack: Do you think that considering these two models in conjunction benefits both?

Fabien: I think the affinity between a Type and a Spiral's level can sometimes distort the way we describe Types.

Patricia: That is one of our pet topics. An enneatype is a favourite centre, an inner and/or outer use of that centre, an orientation, a compulsion, a passion-virtue pair, a fixation-holy idea pair and a main defence mechanism. If you push it, that's all there is to it, and the whole Enneagram could be described on both sides of one page. But to be more precise, to make the identification easier, to make the model more effective, the Enneagram community wrote tens of thousands of pages! For the same reason we have observed, researched and questioned people of all enneatypes.

Fabien: Now let's assume that, statistically, most Ones stopped their growth in BLUE, or went further, but kept a hypertrophied BLUE. In that case, our description of One might mix features of type One, and features of BLUE that have nothing to do with type One. You remember I mentioned Michael, the person I met in a training? That was his criticism about the Enneagram: "I'm clearly a type One. Anger and perfectionism drive my personality, but I'm not centred in Blue."

Patricia: For instance, a deservedly highly respected member in the Enneagram community writes: "If you are a One, […] you'll feel secure in a workplace that provides clear guidelines and a strict demarcation of responsibilities." The same person writes: "They need to know the rules and how to follow the rules to get the job done." Another person describes Type One as "rule-bound".

Fabien: No, this is not Type One. This is Type One–BLUE. When Michael reads those sentences, he cannot fully recognize himself in the Enneagram model. He considers that it is flimsy, that it accurately describes some parts of his personality, but is totally inaccurate about other parts.

Patricia: And what about our description of Type Eight, that is often a bit too RED?

Fabien: Not to mention the description of Type Three. In western culture ORANGE is dominant and Types Three, who seek social success, easily adjust to the ORANGE level. Our portrayals of Threes, apart from describing their basic patterns, are overly influenced by ORANGE . That puzzled us for a long time. We saw many people who knew that they were not Types Three and yet showed so many features traditionally linked to that Type. Actually, what we thought was Type Three was in fact ORANGE.

Jack: What can we do to better discriminate?

Fabien: Two things. First, we should pay more attention to distinguishing between patterns that are Type based and patterns that are unique to the individual. For instance, nothing in Type One's basic features demands there be rules.

Patricia: The second thing is to welcome minorities! Even if most Types One have a strong and frequent access to the BLUE level, let's try to define new combinations like Type One-GREEN, Type One-YELLOW, etc, and let's do it for all nine Types.

Jack: That would be a huge task!

Fabien: Tell me about it! We hope that this article in the EM will make many readers want to look further into Spiral Dynamics and take part in that task. All contributions are welcome, feel free to contact us.

Jack: Obviously, it is also a way to make the Enneagram more transcultural?

Patricia: Of course. People from all over the world are passionate about the Enneagram, but most of them come from western countries. For economic or other reasons, our Type descriptions do not take enough of other countries' cultural specifics into consideration. Introducing all the possible combinations between enneatypes and Spiral Dynamics levels would remedy this situation.