MBTI Failed Us — Can the Enneagram Do Better?
6/5/2025
"You're an INTP."
"You should be a data analyst."
"That's just how you are."
"You should be a data analyst."
"That's just how you are."
If you’ve ever taken a Myers-Briggs (MBTI) test, you probably got a tidy four-letter personality type, maybe a job suggestion, and a brief dopamine hit of identity. But did it change your life? Did it help you grow?
For most people, it didn't.
This post isn’t about bashing MBTI. It’s about asking a better question:
What if there were a personality framework that actually helped you grow into your best self, find the right work, and transform society?
That’s where the Enneagram comes in.
🧰 Where MBTI Failed — And How Enneagram Can Do Better
| MBTI Legacy | Enneagram Upgrade |
|---|---|
Static label ("You're an INTP") | Dynamic system (You're a 5 under stress, growing toward 8) |
Vague job matching | Motivation-based fit (e.g. "You crave impact, but burn out from micromanagement") |
Overused in hiring | Understood as a tool for personal agency |
Surface traits | Core fears, desires, shadows, and integration paths |
Encouraged external boxes | Encourages internal transformation |
MBTI tried to say:
"This is what you're like."
The Enneagram says:
"This is your story. Here's where it's headed. Want to grow?"
🛠️ A Functional, Non-Dystopic Model of Enneagram Society
What if the Enneagram wasn't just a personal tool, but a blueprint for designing better schools, workplaces, and communities?
1. The Enneagram as a Guidance System, Not a Label
✓ People are trained to understand their **type, wing, stress path, growth path, and instinct stack**
✓ Career tools suggest options—but never assign roles
✓ Coaching replaces "fit tests"
Example: You might be a Type 9 who thought you wanted peace and routine—but your growth toward 3 shows you actually thrive in empowered leadership when emotionally supported.
2. Jobs Become Psychological Journeys
Every job is a mirror, not just a paycheck.
⚡ Roles are mapped to common stress triggers and motivational drives
⚡ Management shifts from KPIs to **emotional fluency**
⚡ Work becomes a **growth path**
A Type 2 isn't just a nurse—they're a healer learning boundaries.
A Type 6 isn't just in logistics—they're building trust in systems.
3. Flexible Role-Shifting Encouraged
To avoid personality-based caste systems:
🔄 People are encouraged to **shift jobs** as they grow
🔄 Performance reviews include questions like: "Are you integrating your wing? Are you confronting your core fear?"
🔄 Promotions value psychological integration as much as skill mastery
"Are you becoming more fully yourself?"
becomes more important than
"Are you productive?"
becomes more important than
"Are you productive?"
4. Social Harmony, Not Hierarchy
The Enneagram helps us understand each other:
🤝 Conflict resolution uses **type-awareness**
🤝 Civic systems include all nine types to balance human drives
🤝 Kids learn **self-regulation through type education**, not diagnoses
🧭 Design Principles to Avoid a Caste System
| Design Principle | Function |
|---|---|
| Fluidity | No one is locked into a type. Growth is expected. |
| Self-knowledge > External typing | People type themselves via reflection, not tests. |
| Narrative empowerment | Type is a myth you grow through, not a label you wear. |
| Cross-type mentorship | 8s teach 9s power. 4s teach 3s authenticity. |
| Transparency of bias | Institutions are taught not to weaponize typing. |
This system works because people are expected to evolve, not because they're sorted.
🌄 What This Society Feels Like
Imagine a society that takes the Enneagram seriously—but doesn't get weird about it.
🏫 Schools teach emotional literacy using the Enneagram alongside math and science
🏙️ Cities include spaces designed for psychological needs—quiet for 5s, creative chaos for 7s
🏢 Workplaces look like healing centers, labs, and dojo mashups
📋 Instead of resumes, you have an Enneagram Journey Map: What you've faced. Where you're headed.
This is a world that says:
"We don't hire skills. We hire self-awareness.
We don't promote power. We promote wholeness."
🧬 Enneagram as Social Technology
If you're a builder, educator, or curious skeptic, here's how you can join:
💡 Create tools that help people reflect—not just type
🎯 Design content that speaks to Gen Z's demand for emotional authenticity
🎓 Train leaders in growth-based psychology, not control systems
🚫 Avoid "typing people" Focus on narrative. Invite growth.
🏗️ Build systems that reward **inner work**, not just outer output
✨ A Final Picture
Imagine a 20-year-old who already knows how their Type 4 shaped their heartbreaks, how their growth toward 1 gave them discipline, and how their stress path to 2 makes them over-give in relationships.
They don't just need a job.
They know what kind of work heals them.
And so do their friends.
And their community.
And maybe—one day—their whole world.
Still skeptical? That's healthy.
The Enneagram isn't perfect. But it is powerful—especially when wielded with curiosity, not control.
Let's use it not to sort people, but to liberate them.
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