Enneagram

Creativity for the Enneagram’s Thinking types emanates from their thoughts.  Here we examine the creativity of Enneagram Type 5.

Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought. – Albert Einstein

Inspiration—Action

Enneagram Type 5 has easy access to both inspiration and action along the Paths of Integration and Disintegration.  Under stress or disintegration, Type 5 moves into Type 7 dynamics and receives inspiration.  When feeling confident and moving along the path of integration, Type 5 accesses Type 8 dynamics, the type most easily identifiable with confident action.

Creativity Seesaw

The creative process can be represented by swings back and forth between inspiration and action. In Chapter 5 of my book Teamwork 9.0—Successful Workgroup Problem Solving Using the Enneagram, I use the seesaw as a metaphor for the swings between inspiration and action for each Enneagram type’s distinct creative process.

Intrinsic motivation underlies each Enneagram type’s creative drive and can be likened in this metaphor to the seesaw’s pivot point. Like the height of the pivot point, the stronger the motivation the deeper the swings between inspiration and action.  Being one of the Enneagram’s Thinking or Head types, the underlying issue for Type 5 is anxiety; Type 5s have anxiety about appearing uninformed.

Enneagram Type 5 Motivation:  Avoid Appearing Uninformed

Driven by this anxiety, Enneagram Type 5s are motivated to absorb vast amounts of information.  As anxiety rises, the 5 can move along the path of disintegration towards Type 7 dynamics.  And while Type 7s are concerned about whether they are liked by others, Type 5 can be anxious about their relationship with information itself.   This anxiety drives them to absorb and understand the information deeply.

Enneagram Type 5 Inspiration:  Assimilating Information and Ideas

Enneagram Type 5 Action: Asserting Knowledge

Once they have mastered the information and the object of their studies, anxiety will subside and Type 5 moves along the path of integration whereby they can express Type 8 dynamics and confidently assert their mastery of the subject matter, especially to those peers who will appreciate their deep understanding.  Type 5 will often arrange information in novel ways thereby advancing understanding within the field of study.

Should peers push back on the Type 5’s understanding, anxiety rises and the 5 is compelled to push further and deeper on their understanding of the subject. In much the same way as anxiety compels Type 7s to improve their standing with others, anxiety compels Type 5s to improve their understanding of their target information.  In this way the 5 swings back and forth between Type 7 dynamics and Type 8 dynamics, inspiration and action,  on their Creativity Seesaw.

Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.
– Leo Burnett

I highlight this Leo Burnett quote for two reasons.  Firstly, Burnett inserts “I think,” evidence of a Thinking type.  Also, Type 5s amuse themselves by making caricatures in their thoughts.  Burnett is famous for his iconic advertising characters, like the Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Keebler Elves and Kellogg Fruit Loop’s Toucan Sam, among others.  What a perfect creative role for Type 5!

What do the Enneagram Type 5s in your life study deeply?  In what venues do they display their knowledge?

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For more details on each Enneagram type’s creative style, see the following series of blogs:

Enneagram Type 1 Creativity – Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things. – Michelangelo

Enneagram Type 2 Creativity – Create with the heart; build with the mind. – Criss Jami

Enneagram Type 3 Creativity – Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas Edison

Enneagram Type 4 Creativity – Everything you can imagine is real. – Pablo Picasso

Enneagram Type 5 Creativity – Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought. – Albert Einstein

Enneagram Type 6 Creativity – The creative adult is the child who survived. – Ursula Kroeber Le Guin

Enneagram Type 7 Creativity – You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have. — Maya Angelou

Enneagram Type 8 Creativity – Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things. – Ray Bradbury

Enneagram Type 9 Creativity – But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Each Enneagram type brings a distinct creative contribution to problem solving and teamwork. Here we examine the creativity of Enneagram Type 4.

Everything you can imagine is real. –Pablo Picasso

Inspiration—Action

The creative process requires both inspiration and action, and each Enneagram type can access these two dynamics along the Enneagram’s Paths of Integration and Disintegration.  Under stress or disintegration, Type 4 receives inspiration towards Type 2 dynamics.  When feeling less stress towards integration, Type 4 moves towards the dynamics of Type 1 becoming more productive.

Creativity Seesaw

Chapter 5 in my book Teamwork 9.0—Successful Workgroup Problem Solving Using the Enneagram describes the creativity gifts of each Enneagram type. I use the seesaw as a metaphor for the alternating motion between inspiration and action during the creative process, motion which serves as an engine for each type’s creativity.

Each Enneagram type’s intrinsic motivation underlies each type’s creative drive. The seesaw’s fulcrum represents intrinsic motivation. The higher the motivation, like the height of the fulcrum, the deeper the swings between inspiration and action.  For Type 4, the intrinsic motivation is feeling everything, especially what is missing.

Enneagram Type 4 Motivation:  Feel Everything; Pine for What’s Missing

Enneagram Type 4s feel the emotional content of everything. They are moved by sunlight falling on a wall, the gentle motion of a leaf in a light breeze, the sounds of people breathing in a room—quite literally everything!  Additionally, they have intense pining feelings for what is missing from their environment.  I liken this pining to movement along their path of disintegration towards the dynamics of Type 2.  Type 2s have the ability to perceive what is missing for others and to deliver that missing piece in a helpful way. And while the 2 is focused on what is missing for others, the 4 perceives what is missing in general—not only for themselves and for others, but for the world as a whole.

Enneagram Type 4 Inspiration:  Intense Feeling for What is Missing

Enneagram Type 4 Action: Uniquely Expressing the Void

Not only can Type 4s feel everything, they also understand how others are feeling and reacting emotionally.  Often the 4 understands how others are feeling better than they themselves!  This ability enables the 4 to communicate in emotionally impactful ways, not only with words, but also with music, film, art, poetry, etc.  As the 4 moves along the path of integration towards Type 1 dynamics, they can develop a righteous need to communicate what is missing as a way of filling the void.  And, they communicate in a way that will impact others emotionally—perhaps even leaving them speechless.

Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye. – Dorothy Parker

Should the Type 4s message not land with their audience, not have the desired emotional impact, the 4 will teeter back towards disintegration and intense feelings for how to better, more emotionally intensely communicate their message. And so does the Enneagram Type 4 teeter-totter on their creativity seesaw.

For what do the Enneagram Type 4s in your life pine?  How does their pining manifest into communication?  Do they use words or other forms to communicate in emotionally impactful ways?

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For more details on each Enneagram type’s creative style, see the following series of blogs:

Enneagram Type 1 Creativity – Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things. – Michelangelo

Enneagram Type 2 Creativity – Create with the heart; build with the mind. – Criss Jami

Enneagram Type 3 Creativity – Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas Edison

Enneagram Type 4 Creativity – Everything you can imagine is real. – Pablo Picasso

Enneagram Type 5 Creativity – Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought. – Albert Einstein

Enneagram Type 6 Creativity – The creative adult is the child who survived. – Ursula Kroeber Le Guin

Enneagram Type 7 Creativity – You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have. — Maya Angelou

Enneagram Type 8 Creativity – Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things. – Ray Bradbury

Enneagram Type 9 Creativity – But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Each Enneagram type brings a distinct creative contribution to problem solving and teamwork. Here we examine the creative style of Enneagram Type 3.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. –Thomas A. Edison

Inspiration—Action

As Thomas Edison so eloquently put, the creative process requires both inspiration and action.  Enneagram Type 3 accesses these two dynamics readily along the Enneagram’s Paths of Integration and Disintegration.  Under stress, Type 3 receives inspiration along the path of disintegration (towards Type 9 dynamics) and becomes most productive along the path of integration (towards Type 6 dynamics.)

Creativity Seesaw

Alternating motion along the paths of integration and disintegration serve as an engine for each Enneagram type’s creativity.   Chapter 5 in my book Teamwork 9.0—Successful Workgroup Problem Solving Using the Enneagram describes the creativity gifts of each Enneagram type. The seesaw is an apt metaphor for the alternating motion between inspiration and action during the creative process. The underlying motivation of each Enneagram type serves as the creative drive and is represented by the seesaw’s fulcrum. Like the height of the fulcrum, the higher a person’s motivation the more variation they are likely to experience when oscillating between their paths of integration and disintegration, between inspiration and action. For Type 3, the underlying motivation is recognition for successes.

Enneagram Type 3 Motivation:  Recognition for Successes

Enneagram Type 3 is always on the alert for ideas that further their success.  They often rely on the opinions of others to determine what distinguishes a “good” idea from a “bad” idea.  This dynamic can be represented by the motion of Type 3 in stress along the path of disintegration towards the dynamics of Type 9.  Type 9 is the type that best represents taking into account the perspectives and opinions of others. In this state, the 3 can distill their multitude of ideas down to those that are most worthy of accolades from others.

Enneagram Type 3 Inspiration:  Seeking to Appease Others

Enneagram Type 3 Action: Systematically Achieving Goals

In possession of a winning idea, the 3 gets to action. Type 3s are some of the hardest working of all types, just ask my wife whose mother is a Type 3.  Both she and her sister are continually amazed and often exasperated by the boundless energy of their 80-year-old mother!  Type 3s take a very systematic approach to accomplishing tasks, resembling the dynamic of Type 6 which lies on Type 3’s path of integration.  In this state, Type 3’s work tirelessly towards realizing their goal.

If you’re not doing some things that are crazy, then you’re doing the wrong things. –Larry Page

Failure is Not an Option

For Type 3, winning is imperative and failure is not an option.  If there is ever any doubt about realizing their objective, the 3 falls back into the state of stress towards Type 9 dynamics and again seeks inspiration for how to avoid failure.  Back and forth the Type 3 goes between inspiration and action on the Creativity Seesaw.

How do the Enneagram Type 3s in your life seek ideas and opportunities for success and recognition? At times do you find them attentive of others?  When are they heads down at work?  Do they ever take a break, or does one accomplishment just inspire them to pursue the next?

Want More?

For more details on each Enneagram type’s creative style, see the following series of blogs:

Enneagram Type 1 Creativity – Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things. – Michelangelo

Enneagram Type 2 Creativity – Create with the heart; build with the mind. – Criss Jami

Enneagram Type 3 Creativity – Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas Edison

Enneagram Type 4 Creativity – Everything you can imagine is real. – Pablo Picasso

Enneagram Type 5 Creativity – Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought. – Albert Einstein

Enneagram Type 6 Creativity – The creative adult is the child who survived. – Ursula Kroeber Le Guin

Enneagram Type 7 Creativity – You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have. — Maya Angelou

Enneagram Type 8 Creativity – Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things. – Ray Bradbury

Enneagram Type 9 Creativity – But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. – Martin Luther King Jr.