We are privileged to have had the opportunity of working with many individuals, groups and organisations worldwide. In so doing, we have constantly been struck by how frequently we hear the word transformation. It would seem to be the word of the moment as humanity takes its first bold strides into the new millennium. There appears to be global recognition of the need to change; to change the way we do business, the way we communicate, the way we make a living, the way we relate. Wherever we go we see a disenchantment and frustration with the way things are and a universal searching for a better way to be. We see a growing desire to break through to higher levels of effectiveness, to be better at whatever it is that human beings do, in spite of the multitude of pressures that we all face in the world we've created.

Never before in the history of humankind has change been so rapid as it is today. Those working in the field of Information Technology will appreciate this perhaps more than most. The ever-increasing sense of urgency is but one of the frightening, or perhaps exciting, realities of the world and the lives we live.

Change isn't just happening at an ever-accelerating rate. We notice that the very nature of change is changing! In the world of our parents and grandparents things were a little more predictable. In those days, change was certainly present, and sometimes even the totally unexpected happened, but generally, planning was a fairly straightforward process - people could see quite far down the road they were about to travel and could fairly confidently anticipate many of the curves and hazards they were likely to meet along the way.

Our world of today is a very different place. Change has become discontinuous. It's becoming the accepted norm (albeit an uncomfortable one) that we don't see the curves, or the precipitous gradients, or the other multitude of possible hazards until we hit them squarely in the present. It's this observation that led world-renowned writers and teachers like Michael Hammer to say:

"If you think you're good you're dead. Success in the past has no implication for success in the future. The formulas for success in the past are almost guaranteed to be formulas for failure tomorrow."

In other words, the strategies, or ways of operating in the world, that worked for us in the past are increasingly unlikely to work for us in the future. Our environment is a turbulent one and in order to navigate ourselves and our organisations through it successfully we need a new strategy, a new approach to living, to our relationships with people and the broader environment; an approach that begins with our inner selves and that enables us to impact our relationships, our communities and our world in a very different and more effective way.

Transformation Begins With Ourselves

If we want to be more effective in our lives; if we want better and more rewarding relationships at work, at home and in the community; if we truly want to make a better world, then each of us needs to change, to transform. But how many people do you know who have honestly undergone serious change or transformation in their lives? It's no easy task. What we've found is that many change interventions, whether applied at individual, team or organisational level simply don't cause the sustainable change that's needed. They may work for short periods of time but then the old habits slowly re-emerge - just like the proverbial smoker who's tried to give up smoking so many times he should be good at it by now! We believe we've found some answers to the challenge of creating sustainable change in an approach that utilises a dynamic model known as the Enneagram.

Background To The Enneagram

The Enneagram (from the Greek ennea meaning nine, and grammos meaning points or figure) is a tool, or more correctly, a map of personal and interpersonal effectiveness. It provides an opportunity to break through to much higher levels of success and fulfilment and impacts tremendously on the quality of personal, family and working relationships.

As with any map, for it to be useful in guiding us on our journey, we need to have the answers to two basic questions:

•  Where are we right now?

•  Where is our destination?

Once these two locations are clarified we can begin charting our course from "here" to "there" . The Enneagram assists enormously in this dynamic growth process.

The roots of the Enneagram are lost in the depths of ancient history but there is some evidence to suggest that it first originated some two to three thousand years ago. In the early days, knowledge of the Enneagram was handed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth. Only those individuals who had been carefully selected were given this ancient and powerful knowledge.

The ancient Greeks knew of the Enneagram. Plato, Socrates and Pythagoras made references to it, and Homer clearly based his tales of Odysseus in "The Iliad" , and "The Odyssey" on the nine basic Enneagram personality types which you'll learn about later.

For many years, this knowledge was "lost" to the western world. The Russian teacher George Ivanovich Gurdjieff who in fact coined the word Enneagram rediscovered it early this century. A student of Gurdjieff's, (P. D. Ouspensky), publicised the Enneagram in his book: In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching (Harcourt, Brace & World 1949).

Oscar Ichazo was also one of the early twentieth century teachers of the Enneagram and later, one of his protégés, Claudio Naranjo (a Chilean Psychiatrist) took up the reins. Naranjo is generally credited with integrating the basic system of the Enneagram with modern day psychological knowledge.

Today, some of the world's most renowned teachers and researchers of the Enneagram include Don Richard Riso; Helen Palmer and David Daniels (formerly of Stanford University); Kathy Hurley and Theodore Donson.

Our own Dr Robert Siudzinski (co-founder of Adfen International and from the University of North Florida) is also an internationally recognised teacher of the Enneagram. He has studied and worked with many of the modern day leaders in the field.

What Is The Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a system that describes human behaviour. It outlines nine distinct behavioural styles (sometimes referred to as personality types). Each of us has a behavioural style that fits one of the nine types described by the Enneagram.

The Enneagram, however, goes far beyond simply describing our behavioural patterns. It provides us with a vehicle through which we begin the journey inwards, and, in the process, we become highly self-aware. As our self-awareness grows we recognise our strengths, our motives and our compulsions. We begin to clearly define what stops us from reaching our full potential in all aspects of our lives. We develop a strong sense of who we can become - our true selves. The transformational path that we each need to travel to become the very best that we can possibly be, starts to emerge.

As you work with the Enneagram, you will begin to recognise your own behavioural style or personality type. It's important to mention that no single personality type is better than any other. Each has its particular gifts and challenges, and all types can be equally effective or equally ineffective. By working with the Enneagram you'll begin to recognise your personal gifts and natural talents. You'll also identify precisely what it is that stops you from being more effective and fulfilled than you are right now.

If you're willing to begin the process of personal transformation and to put in the effort required, you'll create the possibility of maximising your true potential irrespective of what is happening in the turbulent environment around you.

The process will impact remarkably in the relationships you have with co-workers, family and friends. The Enneagram is highly applicable to the development of effective leadership and teamwork; to the successful resolution of conflict and communication difficulties; and to the building of rewarding and mutually beneficial relationships. In fact, wherever you need to be more effective as a human being, the Enneagram can have enormous impact.

Making Use Of The Enneagram

So what can you really expect as you learn about the Enneagram and how to apply it in your own life? Well, you can expect to gain:

• A deep and profound insight into the way that human beings function and, in particular, how you function.
• A clear and fundamental understanding of why you respond to certain situations or certain people the way you do.
• Paradigm shifting insight into why some people see the world very differently from the way you see it.
• Deeper empathy and respect for other people's views of the world.
• A clear understanding of the barriers that are preventing you from fulfilling your potential for success and effectiveness in all areas of your life - barriers that you may never have previously considered or recognised.
• Clarity on how to overcome the barriers that are currently stopping your personal growth and development.
• Improved communication with others.
• Ability to enable self and others to maximise the use of their natural resources.

At various times during this manual or in the training programme itself you'll come across the word personality . It's important that you have a good understanding of what we mean.

Your personality is essentially that part of you that interfaces with the external world. It becomes apparent through the patterns of behaviour you display as you interact with the world, and is the way other people are likely to perceive you. For many years debate has raged over whether personality is genetically determined or learned. Current thinking indicates that personality is most probably formed by the interaction of a whole set of factors, some of which are genetically based and others that are experientially determined. Such factors may include:

• the environment in which you were raised.
• the relationships you had with parent figures in your early life.
• your birth order in your family.
• your body type.
• your genetic make-up; etc.

Essentially, your personality has to do with the habitual patterns of behaviour that you tend to display in response to certain situations. These patterns relate to the way you:

• THINK,
• FEEL and
• ACT

It's important to note that your personality is not you. It's simply a series of reactive, patterned behaviours that you've adopted to enable the real you to interface with the world.

Essence

As we've already implied, there is a level that exists beneath the personality, and which can be thought of as the real you. This is your essence or your inner self. Essence comprises those potentials with which we were born, rather than those things we have learned through life experience. It is, in effect, the real you, which remains uncontaminated by the conditioned responses that developed as you experienced your world.

The Power Of The Enneagram

The Enneagram isn't just another tool for identifying your personality type, or for putting you in the appropriate box with a specific label on it. On the contrary, by working with the Enneagram, you'll begin to see very clearly, the box that you're currently living in, and the limitations that you've placed upon yourself as a result. Most importantly, you will find an extraordinary and empowering opportunity to break free of these limitations; to recognise and begin utilising the natural gifts and potential that you didn't previously know you had available.

In summary, as people progress on their transformational journeys they become:

• More self-aware.
• More accepting and respectful of others.
• More effective in relationships, in families, at work and socially.
• Better communicators.
• More motivated and productive in the workplace.
• More fulfilled in their lives.
• Better able to guide and support their loved ones.