Find Your Management Blind Spot
Where you are: Module 2 · Lesson 13 of 30 · about 30 minutes (reading 12, practice 12, checkpoint 6). So far you have looked at yourself from the inside. This lesson adds the one view you cannot get alone: how one of your behaviours affects other people. It closes Module 2 with Record Checkpoint 2, where you bring your hypothesis card together, and the Module 2 checkpoint.
What you'll be able to do
- Explain why looking harder at yourself finds only part of a blind spot.
- Write a "Possible blind spot" line on your hypothesis card, with one event that does not fit it, or "not sure".
- Ask someone who saw you, in a neutral way that allows a positive answer, a negative answer or "no effect".
- Receive an answer without defending yourself, and bring your card together at Record Checkpoint 2.
Why you cannot find a blind spot alone
Chestnut and Paes write that what we focus on also defines what we do not see, and that we do not see that we do not see it. They call these our blind spots (PDF page 17). They advise getting input from people you trust to help you see them (PDF page 19).
Our course draws a conclusion: self-observation has a limit, because some effects of your behaviour are visible only from outside. We also read the habit of attention from Lesson 8 as part of "what we see", so what it leaves out may be where a blind spot sits. Attention that goes to errors, for example, may overlook what is going well. That link is our reading, not the authors' claim, and only a question to test.
What the authors suggest
Some of Chestnut and Paes's type chapters give specific advice. These are descriptions for particular patterns, not tests.
- For Type 1, the book asks what happens in your relationships when others feel criticised by you (PDF page 36).
- For Type 8, it says to find out as soon as possible whether you did anything hurtful or upsetting and, if you did, "don't push back, just listen and try to understand the truth of what happened" (PDF page 232).
- For Type 9, it says to ask people you trust for feedback about the ways they experience passive or stubborn behaviour in you (PDF page 256).
A neutral request (our format)
The authors' examples assume a problem. For a first-time manager, this course uses one neutral format that works for any pattern. The format is ours, not the authors'.
"In a specific situation, I did a specific thing. What effect, if any, did that have on one outcome?"
| Part | What to write | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Situation | One recent, specific occasion | The person can remember it clearly. |
| Behaviour | What you did, as a camera would record it | "I moved to decisions quickly" works better than "I am impatient". |
| "What effect, if any" | Use these exact words | A positive answer, a negative answer and "none" are all easy to give. |
| Outcome | One thing you care about, such as who spoke | The answer stays specific enough to use. |
"Did I shut people down?" suggests its own answer; "what effect, if any" leaves it open.
Choose someone with no risk in answering. Ask a person who saw the occasion, whom you trust, and who has nothing to lose by being honest. A peer from another team who was present is often right. A new person who reports to you usually is not, because honesty may feel risky for them.
Receive, do not defend
When an answer comes:
- Thank the person.
- Ask one clarifying question: more detail about what they saw, not reassurance and not names.
- Record the answer privately, with the date, in their words.
Do not explain, justify or promise a change on the spot. If you notice heat or an urge to explain, use the noticing from Lesson 4. One reply is one person's view of one occasion: information about an effect, not a verdict on your character, and it does not cancel a real requirement.
The blind-spot line. Your card gets one more line, Possible blind spot (this course's design): a tentative idea about how a behaviour may affect others, plus one event that does not fit it. "Not sure" is complete. If this work makes you distressed, stop and talk to a suitable professional; if anyone may be in danger now, use your workplace emergency process or local emergency services.
Worked example
Two fictional managers. In each, the blind spot is a possibility, not a finding.
Ibrahim checks in often. He gave the weekly rota to a team member and messaged her three times a day about it.
- Possible blind spot: "My frequent check-ins may signal that I do not trust her with the task."
- Does not fit: "On Wednesday I messaged three times again, and she still changed the rota herself without asking me."
- Whom to ask: a supervisor from another team who shares his office and saw the messages. The team member reports to him, so her answer carries risk.
- Request: "Last week I messaged about the rota three times a day. What effect, if any, did that have on how the work went?"
Nayef praises results. In team meetings he names the work that finished on time.
- Possible blind spot: "I may not notice slow, careful work, and the team may learn that only speed is seen."
- Does not fit: "Last Sunday I named a team member who had checked a report twice."
- Whom to ask: a peer manager who attended. Request: "In last Sunday's meeting I named the work that finished on time. What effect, if any, did that have on what people talked about afterwards?"
Your turn
Do both parts privately. Nobody collects or checks them.
Part 1. A supplied case. Hazim leads a scheduling team of six. Every Monday from 9.00 to 9.40 a.m. he runs a planning meeting. Rimas from the sales team attends to report new orders; she does not report to Hazim and has worked with him for a year. Hazim's own manager does not attend. Three entries from his record:
- Monday: Hazim decided the week's six schedule changes in 25 minutes. Nobody spoke. Two team members sent suggestions in the team chat afterwards.
- Wednesday: in a one-to-one, a team member who joined five weeks ago said she had a concern about Thursday's roster and had not raised it on Monday.
- Thursday: in a 10-minute huddle, Hazim decided three items in 8 minutes without asking for comments. Two people raised concerns on their own, and he changed one decision.
As if you were Hazim: (1) write the Possible blind spot line with one event that does not fit, or "not sure"; (2) choose whom to ask (the new team member, Rimas or his manager), give one reason, and write the request in the neutral format; (3) Rimas replies, "On Monday two people looked at you when you moved to the next item, but nobody spoke. I was not at Thursday's huddle." Write Hazim's response: thanks and one clarifying question, with no defending and no promise.
Part 2. Record Checkpoint 2 (private). Bring your own card together, from your own record, with no names or confidential facts.
- Write your pattern as a hypothesis ("I am testing whether…"), or "not sure". Give up to three events that fit and one that does not. If you have fewer, use what you have, or write "not sure".
- List two other explanations for these events, each with what you would look for to test it. One is what your habit of attention may be protecting or leaving out, written as a possibility (or, if "not sure", what the situation may hide).
- Write one observation that would change your mind.
- Add a Possible blind spot line with one contrary event, or "not sure".
- Add a Revision line to the block you tested: keep, narrow or drop, with a reason.
A possible motive belongs in field 5 of your record, other readings in field 6, and the Revision in field 10 (review without self-blame). The blind-spot line sits next to the ten fields.
Check your work. A good answer for Part 1:
- "Possible blind spot: in Monday meetings I may move so fast that people keep their concerns to themselves. Does not fit: on Thursday I decided three items in 8 minutes and two people raised concerns without being asked."
- "Rimas. She saw the Monday meeting and has no reporting line to me. The new team member reports to me, so honesty may feel risky for her. My manager did not attend." Request: "In Monday's planning meeting I decided the six schedule changes in 25 minutes. What effect, if any, did that have on who spoke?"
- "Thank you, that is useful to know. What did you notice just before the two people looked at me?"
Part 1 meets the criteria if: the blind spot is a first-person possibility with a contrary event (or "not sure"); the facts come from the entries (nothing says why nobody spoke, or why the new team member waited); the person asked saw the occasion and has no reason to hold back; the request has one situation, one behaviour, "what effect, if any" and one outcome; the response thanks, asks about what she saw, and does not defend or promise; nobody is typed ("the new team member is shy" is not a fact). Not yet meeting the criteria: "Hazim silences people"; "Did I shut people down?"; asking the new team member; "I only had 40 minutes"; "Who else noticed?"; treating Rimas's reply as a fact about Thursday.
For Record Checkpoint 2, check the shape only; nobody can tell you whether your idea is true. The pattern line is a test or "not sure", never "I am a…"; one event does not fit (or "not sure"); two other explanations use "may" or "might" and say what to look for; the change-my-mind observation can be checked by looking; the blind-spot line has a contrary event or "not sure"; no colleague is named or typed; the Revision gives a reason, with no verdict on you.
Extra practice (optional)
Jana leads four report writers. Sunday: she returned report A with 14 comments. Tuesday: report B with 2 comments and "good". Thursday: report C with 6 comments and a note on the three that mattered most; it came back corrected the same day. Layan, a manager in another team who does not report to Jana, read A and B with the comments. Write Jana's blind-spot line, the request to Layan, and a response to her reply: "Both reports looked similar to me."
Key. "Possible blind spot: my comments may be so uneven that people cannot tell what I expect. Does not fit: report C, corrected the same day. Request: 'I returned report A with 14 comments and report B with 2. What effect, if any, did that have on how clear the reports were?' Response: 'Thank you, that is useful. Which parts looked similar to you?'" Layan's reply is one view of one occasion, not a fact about Jana.
Knowledge check
On Sunday Zaid ended a safety debrief after 20 minutes without asking for questions. Which request to a peer who attended is best?
Fares ran a long review call on Wednesday and wants to know its effect on who spoke. Who is best to ask?
A peer replies: 'You spoke over me twice.' Which response is best?
Answers explained.
- A. It names the occasion and the behaviour, asks about one outcome, and makes every kind of answer easy. B suggests its own answer ("a bad effect"). C is too broad to use. D is open, but it names no behaviour or outcome, so the peer must guess.
- D. The colleague saw the call and has nothing to lose by being honest. A reports to Fares, so honesty may feel risky. B did not see the call. C cannot show an effect Fares does not see, which is the problem of a blind spot.
- B. It thanks the person and asks for more detail about what they saw. A defends. C promises a change on the spot. D moves the question away from what this person saw and asks about others.
Module 2 checkpoint
Six questions on new fictional cases. They check behaviour versus possible motive, how the two authors' accounts are credited, and what makes a hypothesis card sound. If you get fewer than 5 of 6, re-read the lesson named in the answer and try again.
Leen's record says: 'In Sunday's review I interrupted a colleague twice.' Which line fits field 5, a possible motive?
Which of these could a camera record?
Which statement keeps the two authors' accounts apart correctly?
A learner writes: 'For Type 4, Chestnut and Paes describe the passion envy, and Riso and Hudson use the name The Individualist.' What is true?
Which hypothesis card best follows this course's rules?
Wejdan's blind-spot line: 'My short replies may leave the team unsure what I want. Does not fit: none yet.' What should she do next?
Answers explained.
- C. It is hedged, belongs to Leen, and includes an alternative. A writes a motive for someone else; B is a label; D states a motive as certain. Revisit Lesson 7.
- A. It is a behaviour anyone present could confirm. B, C and D are possible reasons or feelings inside a person, which no camera shows. Revisit Lesson 7.
- D. "Thinking Triad" is Riso and Hudson's term. A gives Chestnut and Paes Riso and Hudson's type name. B gives Riso and Hudson a passion-and-virtue title, which they do not use. C merges the books: Chestnut and Paes say "body centre". Revisit Lessons 8 and 11.
- B. Envy is Chestnut and Paes's passion word; The Individualist is Riso and Hudson's name. A and C swap the authors. D merges two separate accounts. Revisit Lessons 8 and 10.
- C. It is written as "not sure", with a hedged fit and an event that does not fit. A states an identity and has no contrary event. B types a team and builds on it. D has no contrary event and keeps the idea for a reason that is not an event. Revisit Lessons 9 and 10.
- A. A blind-spot line needs a contrary event, or "not sure". B asks someone who reports to her for a verdict on her character. C treats a missing contrary event as proof. D asks others to type her. Revisit Lesson 13.
Key takeaways
- Some effects of your behaviour are visible only from outside. Asking is part of self-observation, not a break from it.
- Use a neutral request: one situation, one behaviour, "what effect, if any", one outcome. This format is ours.
- Ask someone who saw the occasion and has nothing to lose by being honest, usually not a new person who reports to you.
- Receive any answer with thanks and one clarifying question. One reply is one view, not a verdict.
- Your card now has a Possible blind spot line. Next, Module 3 begins with Lesson 14: noticing when you narrow, with Riso and Hudson's nine Levels.
Sources
- Chestnut, B. and Paes, U. (2021) The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up. Hampton Roads Publishing. PDF pages 17 (what we focus on defines what we do not see, and we do not see that we do not see it: our blind spots), 19 (get input from people you trust to help you see your blind spots), 36 (Type 1: what happens in your relationships when others feel criticised by you), 232 (Type 8: find out as soon as possible whether you did anything hurtful or upsetting; the short quotation), 256 (Type 9: ask people you trust for feedback about passive or stubborn behaviour). The printed page number is the PDF page minus 13.
- Riso, D. R. with Hudson, R. (1996) Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (revised edition). Houghton Mifflin. Used in the checkpoint only: the Thinking Triad (PDF pages 26, 45 and 53), the Instinctive Triad (PDF pages 55 and 315), and the type names The Peacemaker (PDF page 353) and The Individualist (PDF page 147). PDF page numbers are used because the printed pagination was not checked.
- Rules and examples of this lesson that are ours, not the authors': the reading that a habit of attention may leave a blind spot; the neutral request format and its "what effect, if any" wording; the advice on choosing someone with no risk in answering; the three steps for receiving an answer; the Possible blind spot line; Record Checkpoint 2; and the Module 2 checkpoint. These are this course's design, not tested methods.
- Ibrahim, Nayef, Hazim, Rimas, Jana, Layan, Zaid, Fares, Leen and Wejdan are this course's own fictional examples, not the authors'.