Two Directions: Your Pattern and How You Are Functioning
Where you are: Module 3 · Lesson 14 of 30 · about 26 minutes (reading 10, video 5.5, practice 10). In Module 2 you held a hypothesis about your pattern. This lesson adds a second idea, from Riso and Hudson: how freely a pattern is working at a given time.
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the Nine Levels of Development as Riso and Hudson's model: nine steps in three bands.
- Keep four things apart: a pattern, a Level, a mood and one observed reaction.
- Say why nothing in the sources lets you place a person on a Level, whether a colleague or yourself.
Two directions
Think of two directions.
- Across is which pattern. You met the nine patterns in Module 2.
- Down is how freely that pattern is working at a given time.
The words "across" and "down" are this course's own. The Enneagram Institute, Riso and Hudson's own organisation, quotes the philosopher Ken Wilber for a similar picture: the Levels add a "vertical" dimension to a "horizontal" set of nine categories.
Across: the pattern
Riso and Hudson write that people do not change from one basic type to another during their life, although they change in many other ways (PDF page 48). In this course, your pattern stays a hypothesis that you test. It is not a fact about you. In 1996, Riso wrote that "at present" there was no scientific proof for the nine types (PDF page 42). A 2021 systematic review of 104 samples found mixed evidence of reliability and validity (Hook and colleagues, 2021).
Down: the Levels
Within each type, Riso and Hudson describe nine Levels of Development: three in a healthy band, three in an average band and three in an unhealthy band (PDF page 62). They say two people of the same type can differ a great deal, because one is working in the healthy range and the other is not (PDF page 61). They also write that a person is most free at Level 1 and becomes less free towards Level 9 (PDF page 480).
| Band | Levels | The authors' labels (appendix, PDF pages 477 to 479) |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy | 1, 2, 3 | Liberation · Psychological Capacity · Social Value |
| Average | 4, 5, 6 | Imbalance · Interpersonal Control · Overcompensation |
| Unhealthy | 7, 8, 9 | Violation · Level 8 has more than one wording in the authors' sources · Pathological Destructiveness |
At Level 5, people start to work hard to get others to confirm their self-image. It is what the authors call a "turning point": from there down, they say, the traits become more defensive. The authors describe the lowest band in clinical terms, linked to severe circumstances, not to an ordinary hard week. The next lesson covers all nine Levels, band by band, and the lowest band only briefly.
Four things to keep apart
Next to the Levels sit three more ideas. The definitions are this course's own.
Pattern
Lasting. It shows across years and settings. "Over six years in three companies, I check every figure twice." Held as a hypothesis.
Level
How freely a pattern is working, in the authors' model. A statement about the model, or a claim about a person's step.
Mood
How someone feels now or this week, often with a cause. "Rushed since the roster changed on Sunday."
One observed reaction
What a camera could record on one occasion. "Ended the 8.00 a.m. handover after four minutes."
Why keep them apart? Riso and Hudson write that the way people change from day to day can "at least in part" be attributed to moving along the Levels (PDF page 436). But the book does not say how to tell, from one hard week, how much is movement along the Levels, how much is mood and how much is circumstance. So in this course a hard week is called a hard week. We never turn it into a Level.
What the sources do not give
In the passages used for this course, the authors give no scale, score, questionnaire, cut-off or time period for deciding which Level a person is at, and they cite no study of the Levels. The book (PDF page 61) and the Institute's page both invite readers to assess whether a person is healthy, average or unhealthy. This course does not teach that. The reasons are ours: the sources give no method, we are not clinicians, and a manager who rates a team member's psychological health can do real harm.
How this course uses the Levels
The Institute calls the Levels "a measure of our capacity to be present" and "a continuous guide to self-observation". That is the Institute's own description. This course uses the idea in one narrow way: as private vocabulary, afterwards, to notice how freely you were working in one moment. We give no score, and no Level to you or to anyone else. Lesson 16 turns this into a plain check you can use.
Keep your notes private: no names and no confidential facts. 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. This course does not diagnose.
Worked example
Sami is a fictional shift supervisor. Here are four things written about him, sorted by kind of statement. The sort does not say whether each statement is true.
| What is written | Kind | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "On Wednesday at 8.00 a.m. Sami ended the handover after four minutes and took no questions." | One observed reaction | A camera could record it, on one occasion. |
| "Sami says he has felt rushed since the roster changed on Sunday." | Mood | A feeling this week, with a named cause. |
| "Over six years in three companies, Sami has noticed that he checks every figure twice." | Pattern | It spans years and settings. It is his own observation, to be tested. |
| "The authors say two people of the same type can differ because one is working more freely." | Level | It is a statement about the model itself. |
Now suppose someone says: "Sami ended the handover early and feels rushed, so he is probably at a lower Level." We cannot say that. The handover is one reaction. The rushed feeling is a mood with a cause. Neither is a Level, and the sources give no way to turn them into one. What we can say is what happened on Wednesday, and that Sami says the roster change is pressing on him.
Watch: The Nine Levels, a model for private reflection
As you watch, notice:
- where the video puts the Levels, and where it puts a hard week;
- how it sorts three statements about Ibrahim, a fictional warehouse supervisor;
- what it says the sources do not give, and why the course rates no one.
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. Sort eight statements. Lubna supervises a dispatch team. Osama is on her team. Zaid leads another team. For each statement, choose one kind: pattern, Level, mood or one observed reaction, and give one reason. You are sorting the kind of statement, not judging whether it is true.
- "On Tuesday at 10.15 a.m. Osama answered a question in two words and left the room."
- "The authors describe nine steps, from the most free to the least free way a pattern can work."
- "Lubna says she has felt flat and tired since Sunday, when the inspection week began."
- "Zaid has noticed that in every job he has had, his attention goes first to what could go wrong."
- "At the 1.00 p.m. call on Wednesday, Lubna spoke over Zaid twice."
- "The authors say a person stays the same basic type for life."
- "Osama is clearly working at a lower Level this week."
- "Zaid says he feels relieved this week, now that his budget report has gone to Finance."
Part 2. A question about a colleague. Mazen, a new manager, says: "Osama answered in two words and Lubna has felt flat since Sunday. One of them must have dropped to a low Level, and I want to write that in my notes." In two or three sentences, say whether he can write that, and why.
Check your work
Part 1: 1 one observed reaction (one occasion, recordable). 2 Level (about the model, not a person). 3 mood (a feeling with a cause and a start day). 4 pattern (spans many jobs; held as a hypothesis). 5 one observed reaction (one call). 6 pattern (the type staying the same, in the authors' account). 7 Level (a claim about a person's step, which nothing in the sources supports). 8 mood (a feeling this week, with a cause).
Part 2, a good answer: "No. Osama's two-word answer is one observed reaction, and Lubna feeling flat since Sunday is a mood with a circumstance. The sources give no way to turn either into a Level, so I would write what happened and what Lubna said, and nothing more."
Criteria: each reason names a feature of the statement (one occasion, a feeling with a cause, years across settings, how freely a pattern works); statement 7 is spotted as a Level claim about a person and is not accepted; Part 2 declines to infer a Level, gives a reason, and does not say which person is "worse". Common mistake: sorting statement 3 as a Level because "flat and tired" sounds like low functioning.
Extra practice (optional)
Yara leads a stores team. Sort these four statements, then answer the manager.
- "Across five years and two employers, Hisham has said he cannot start until he knows the whole plan."
- "At Sunday's 8.15 a.m. briefing, Nouf asked the same question three times."
- "The authors say the Levels run from most free at Level 1 to least free at Level 9."
- "Hisham says he is worried this week because the quarterly review is on Thursday."
A manager says: "Nouf asked the same question three times, so she must be at Level 5." Reply in two sentences.
Key: 1 pattern, 2 one observed reaction, 3 Level (a model statement), 4 mood. Reply: "Asking the same question three times at one briefing is one observed reaction, and the sources give no way to turn it into a Level. I would write what she asked and perhaps ask her what was unclear."
Knowledge check
Hanan writes: 'Tuesday at 11.00 a.m. I ended the call after six minutes and took no questions.' Which idea does this line belong to?
A colleague says: 'You were short with me twice this week, so you must be at a low Level.' Which reply fits the sources best?
Which statement is part of Riso and Hudson's model, as this lesson describes it?
Answers explained
1, c: it records what a camera could see, once. It says nothing about how often she does this (so not a pattern), names no feeling (so not a mood), and the sources give no way to read a Level from one call.
2, a: it declines and offers what can be said. Option b turns the authors' "at least in part" into a rule. Option c invents a score the sources do not give. Option d avoids the question without giving the reason.
3, d: this is what the authors write (PDF pages 62 and 437). Option a contradicts their statement that the basic type does not change. Option b turns Levels into moods. Option c invents a test; the passages give none.
Key takeaways
- Across is which pattern, held as a hypothesis. Down is how freely it is working: Riso and Hudson's Levels.
- Nine Levels in three bands: healthy (1 to 3), average (4 to 6), unhealthy (7 to 9). Lesson 15 explains each.
- A pattern, a Level, a mood and one observed reaction are different things. Keep them in separate words.
- The sources give no scale, score or time period for placing a person on a Level, so this course gives no Level to anyone, including you.
Sources
- Riso, D. R. with Hudson, R. (1996) Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (revised edition). Houghton Mifflin. PDF pages 42 (in 1996, Riso wrote that there was "at present" no scientific proof for the nine types), 48, 61 (including the invitation to assess a person, which this course does not teach), 62, 436, 437, 477 to 479 (the appendix labels and the "turning point") and 480. PDF page numbers are used because the printed pagination was not checked.
- 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 (Wilber quotation; "a measure of our capacity to be present"; "a continuous guide to self-observation").
- Hook, Hall, Davis, Van Tongeren and Conner (2021) "The Enneagram: A systematic review of the literature and directions for future research", Journal of Clinical Psychology 77(4), https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23097. A systematic review of 104 independent samples reporting mixed evidence of reliability and validity. Only the abstract was read for this course.
- This course's own design, not the authors': the picture of across and down, the four kinds of statement, the rule that no person is given a Level, and the use of the Levels as private vocabulary only. All cases (Sami, Lubna, Osama, Zaid, Mazen, Hanan, Yara, Hisham, Nouf) are fictional.