Open or Narrowed? A Check You Can Use Today
Where you are: Module 3 · Lesson 16 of 30 · about 24 minutes (reading 11, video 2.5, practice 10). Lessons 14 and 15 taught the Levels as the authors' model. This lesson gives you a plain, private check for one moment, which is not a Level, and a short way to recover.
What you'll be able to do
- Ask one plain question about one moment: was I open, or narrowed?
- Notice signs in your body, attention, thinking, speech and choices.
- Recover in five small steps, and write a private line with no score and no Level.
One question about one moment
The question is: in this moment, was I open, or narrowed? You answer it about that moment only. It says nothing fixed about you as a person. One meeting can contain both: open at the start, narrowed after one comment, open again after a pause.
Where the idea comes from. Riso and Hudson's Enneagram Institute says one of the most profound ways to understand the Levels is as "a measure of our capacity to be present". It says that as we move down the Levels, our personality becomes "more defensive, reactive, and automatic", and that the Levels can become "a continuous guide to self-observation". That is the Institute's own description. This course takes only the plain question from it. The question, the signs table and the recovery steps below are this course's own design: a private prompt, not a tested method and not a health check.
A mood is not a Level. A hard week is a hard week. This course never turns it into a Level, and no Level is assigned to you or to anyone else (Lessons 14 and 15).
Signs you can notice
The table gives common signs in five areas. They are this course's practical descriptions, not a diagnostic list. Some people get louder when they narrow; others go quiet. Over time you learn which signs are yours.
| Area | Open | Narrowed |
|---|---|---|
| Body | Breathing fairly steady; jaw and shoulders fairly loose. | Tight jaw, chest or stomach; heat in the face; restless or frozen. |
| Attention | Wide: the person, the facts and the wider situation. | Narrow: locked on one detail, one sentence or one date. |
| Thinking | Several explanations seem possible. "What else could be true?" | One story, often absolute ("always", "never"). Strong certainty. |
| Speech | You ask, listen to the end, and can say "You have a point". | You interrupt, repeat your point, sound sharp, or go silent. |
| Choices | In proportion and within your role; you take in other input. | Rigid or extreme: doing it all yourself, overruling, avoiding, giving in. |
Focus is not the same as narrowing. In a real emergency, fast and focused action may be exactly right. The question is not "Was I focused?" It is: did my response fit the situation, and could I still take in new information?
Narrowing is information, not failure. It often has ordinary causes: too little sleep, too much work, a deadline, unclear authority. Some of these need a practical fix, not more reflection (Lesson 17 helps you tell the difference). Riso and Hudson write that observing our fears, hurts and weaknesses without judgment and without justification is one of the most compassionate things we can do for ourselves (PDF page 63). Chestnut and Paes put it as: you must not judge yourself; cultivate self-compassion (PDF page 19).
Five steps back to open
Every manager narrows sometimes. What matters is how soon you notice, and what you do next. The steps are this course's design.
- Notice. Catch one sign from the table: a tight jaw, an interruption, an absolute thought.
- Name it without a verdict. "I narrowed in that call." Not "I'm hopeless", and not a Level.
- Steady and pause. A few slow breaths, a glass of water, or a stated delay: "Let me come back to you at two o'clock." A pause with a time is not avoidance.
- Repair. If your narrowing affected someone, go back briefly, say what you did without a long explanation, and return to the work. A repair does not erase facts: a missed deadline is still missed.
- One small next step. Ask the question you skipped, fix the process, or raise the problem with the person who owns it.
The line you will write
Your private line has three parts:
- open, narrowed, mixed or not sure;
- one or two signs from the table that you actually noticed;
- a separate sentence about the decision or the facts, kept apart from how you were.
It uses plain words. It has no number, no score and no Level.
Keep your notes private: no names and no confidential facts. If narrowing feels heavy or lasts for weeks, or if this work makes you distressed, stop and talk to a suitable professional. If anyone may be in danger, use your workplace emergency process or local emergency services.
Worked example
Rahaf is a fictional facilities supervisor. On Sunday at 1.30 p.m. her manager asked her to send a report by Monday. She already had three deadlines on Monday. She said "Fine" and the call ended.
Her notes, supplied so that nothing about her inner state is invented: a tight stomach; "I thought only about ending the call"; "Just say yes"; she agreed without checking her list. She does not know whether her manager would have moved the date.
Her line: "Narrowed. My stomach was tight and I thought only about ending the call, so I agreed without checking my list. The request is still real, and I do not know whether the date could move."
What she did next. She noticed the tight stomach after the call and named it: "I said yes to end the call." She took a few slow breaths. At 3.00 p.m. she repaired it by writing to her manager: "I said yes quickly. I have three deadlines on Monday. Which should come first?" Her small next step was to check which Monday deadlines were fixed.
The line gives no number, names no Level and passes no verdict on Rahaf. It keeps the facts apart from how she was.
Watch: Open or narrowed? A check for one moment
As you watch, notice:
- what changes in Hazim's speech after Rimas raises a clash in the schedule;
- the sign Hazim notices two minutes later, and the plain words he uses for it;
- how his repair keeps the real problem, which still needs a decision.
The lesson teaches the same points in text, so it is complete without the video.
Your turn
Do this privately, in your own record.
Part 1. Maha's moment. Maha is a first-time supervisor. Her notes for Tuesday at 2.35 p.m. are supplied, so you invent nothing.
- Fact: the audit is due on Thursday. The usual vendor said its delivery would move from Wednesday to the following Sunday. Maha chose the second approved vendor within five minutes, without asking Nasser or Hana, who were both in the office. Choosing between approved vendors is inside her authority.
- Body: tight shoulders, fast breathing.
- Attention: "I looked only at the new delivery date. I did not look at the price difference or ask what Hana knew."
- Thinking: "There is no time to ask anyone." (A story: whether asking would have taken long is not known.)
- Unknown: whether the second vendor was the better choice.
Write Maha's open-or-narrowed line, in two minutes or less, with the three parts.
Part 2. Record Checkpoint 3 (private): your own moment. Think of one recent moment at work you can describe in a sentence. Write your own line with the same three parts, and add it next to that entry in your record. "Not sure" is a complete answer.
Check your work
Part 1, a good answer: "Narrowed, in my attention and in how fast I decided. My shoulders were tight and I looked at one date only. I chose in five minutes without asking Hana. The choice was inside my authority, and I do not yet know whether the second vendor was better."
Criteria: the line says open, narrowed, mixed or not sure; it names at least one sign that is in the notes; a separate sentence keeps the decision apart and leaves open whether it was right; plain words, no number, score or Level; nothing invented (it does not say why she did not ask). Also valid: "Mixed", if the line says which part narrowed and which stayed within her authority; naming "There is no time" as a story. Not acceptable: "Level 5"; "Narrowed, 7 out of 10"; "I always take over" (one moment is not a habit); "I wrongly switched vendor" (unknown); "Hana would have disagreed" (a guess about someone else).
Part 2: your line names open, narrowed, mixed or not sure, uses signs you actually noticed, keeps the facts apart, and has no score, Level or verdict on yourself.
Extra practice (optional)
Fadi's report from Sara was due on Wednesday at noon. At 11.00 a.m. she told him it would be late. His jaw tightened and he thought, "Here we go again." He said, "Let me come back to you at two o'clock." At 2.00 p.m. he asked what had got in the way, and they agreed on Thursday at noon. Write his line, and name the recovery steps he used.
Key: "Mixed. My jaw tightened and I thought only about the late report. Then I paused with a set time and came back to ask what had got in the way. The new time is Thursday at noon." Steps: the stated delay is step 3, steady and pause; asking and agreeing a new time is step 5, one small next step. "Here we go again" is a thought, not a fact: his notes do not say how often this has happened.
Knowledge check
Which private line follows the rules of this lesson?
In a real emergency a manager acts fast and with great focus. Which question fits the check?
After a call, you notice you spoke sharply to a colleague. Which repair fits the five steps?
Answers explained
1, c: it names narrowed, gives signs, and keeps the decision apart, with no Level and no score. Option a names a Level. Option b is a verdict on character from one moment. Option d gives a score.
2, a: focus is not narrowing; the check asks whether the response fitted and whether new information could still get in. Option b treats focus as narrowing. Option c compares you with others. Option d asks only about a feeling.
3, d: a repair is brief and does not erase facts. Option a turns the repair into a defence. Option b skips the repair. Option c uses a Level, which this course never assigns.
Key takeaways
- Ask one question about one moment: was I open, or narrowed? It is this course's private prompt, not a test, a score or a Level.
- Notice signs in body, attention, thinking, speech and choices. Focus that fits an emergency is not narrowing.
- Recover in five small steps: notice, name without a verdict, steady and pause, repair, one small next step.
- Write a plain line: open, narrowed, mixed or not sure; one or two signs; a separate sentence about the facts.
Sources
- The Enneagram Institute, "The Levels of Development", enneagraminstitute.com/levels-of-development. Riso and Hudson's own organisation, so it states their framework and is not independent evidence. Used for "a measure of our capacity to be present", "more defensive, reactive, and automatic" and "a continuous guide to self-observation".
- Riso, D. R. with Hudson, R. (1996) Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (revised edition). Houghton Mifflin. PDF page 63 (observing fears, hurts and weaknesses without judgment and without justification). PDF page numbers are used because the printed pagination was not checked.
- Chestnut, B. and Paes, U. (2021) The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up. Hampton Roads Publishing. PDF page 19 ("you must not judge yourself. Cultivate self-compassion"). The printed page number is the PDF page minus 13.
- This course's own design, not the authors' and not a tested method: the open-or-narrowed question as a private prompt, the signs table, the five recovery steps and the three-part line. All cases (Hazim, Rimas, Rahaf, Maha, Nasser, Hana, Fadi, Sara) are fictional.