The Enneagram Made Easy: Discover the 9 Types of People – An Ancient Personality Test Made Simple for Everyday Life

by Renee Baron, Elizabeth Wagele

The first easy—and fun—guide to the Enneagram, the fascinating and revealing method of understanding personality types, for the beginner, the expert, and everyone in between. This witty and informative guide demystifies the ancient Enneagram system with cartoons, exercises, and personality tests that reveal our motivations and desires and show how to put that knowledge to use in our everyday lives.

The 9 Types of People:

The Perfectionist: Motivated by the need to live life the right way, improve oneself and others, and avoid anger.

The Helper: Motivated by the need to be loved and appreciated and to express your positive feelings towards others.

The Achiever: Motivated by the need to be productive, to achieve success, and to avoid failure.

The Romantic: Motivated by the need to understand your feelings and to be understood to search for the meaning of life, and to avoid being ordinary.

The Observer: Motivated by the need to know everything and understand the universe, to be self-sufficient and left alone, and to avoid not having the answer or looking foolish.

The Questioner: Motivated by the need for security, to feel taken care of, or to confront your fears.

The Adventurer: Motivated by the need to be happy and plan fun things, to contribute to the world, and to avoid suffering and pain.

The Asserter: Motivated by the need to be self-reliant and strong, to make an impact on the world, and to avoid being weak.

The Peacemaker: Motivated by the need to keep the peace, merge with others, and avoid conflict.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Personal Development, Writing, Spirituality, Book Club

161 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 1994

About the author

Renee Baron was a consultant, coach, and author who spent over twenty-five years helping people understand themselves and others through the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs systems. Known for her insight, warmth, and humor, she guided clients toward greater self-acceptance and healthier relationships. Her books have been published in more than twenty-two countries. Renee passed away in 2013, leaving behind her three children, Jodi, Luna, and Dan, her beloved dog Pepito, and many cherished friends who deeply miss her.

Reviews

[Macayla Fryc · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Enneagram is NOT A PERSONALITY TEST. I repeat. It is NOT A PERSONALITY TEST.

So here's the thing. The enneagram is deeply spiritual. And not just Christian spiritual. It can go wayyyy deep in personal development, strengths, weaknesses, how connect to who you are at your core and understand why others are motivated to be the people they are.

The thing with pop culture getting its hands on the Enneagram is that it strips the Enneagram to child's play and dumbs it down to "parlor tricks." And that's how I felt about this book: irritated by the lack of depth.

While, yes, this book specifically made the Enneagram simple and intentionally used basic diagrams and imagery, it also left it at such a surface-level that it makes the Enneagram sound like it falls in line with all the personality tests that are more often than not used as excuses for behavior rather than growth-promoting insight. (Don't get me started on how aggravating it is to hear people use pop culture personality "analysis" of themselves as support for their behavior.)

Basic personality tests tend to be that friend in high school who gives affirmation that "oh my gosh, you are so right. I don't know why anyone would, like, tell you you're wrong because you're so right" whereas the real Enneagram is like that mentor who loves you too much to leave you the way you are.

At its core, the Enneagram is a 17-grain, heritage wheat, non-GMO, homemade loaf of Grandma's family recipe. The Enneagram Made Easy, and books like it, are the Wonder Bread that slaps on a "all-natural" label and claims it's "Just like Grandma's!"

(I left it at 2* because the book wasn't bad per-se, just lacking in so many critical areas that it was elementary.)

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, a guide for the rest of us! I have always been intrigued by the enneagram as I have many friends who use it to help them understand themselves and others. Having learned the MBTI first, the enneagram was always confusing to me. I think this book is great for people who want a straight forward approach to learning about the 9 types. I especially liked that there is a whole chapter that correlates how the MBTI cognitive functions and types relate to the 9 types here.

[Yousif Al Zeera · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't ask me why but I just couldn't like this book. If you disagree, please let me know as I may missed something.

[Jawaher ʚϊɞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب جيد، يتحدّث حول بيان 9 شخصيات مختلفة، خصائص، مزايا، نقاط ضعف كل شخصية و كيف تطور من ذاتها. و كيف تتأثر الشخصيات ببعضها
:الأمر أنني لم أفلح في معرفة أيّ من التسع تمثلني، وجدت أنني مزيج من
.محب الكمال - الرومنسي - المراقب - الوسيط
الكتاب يوضح كيف لشخصية التأثر بأكثر من فئة وكيف يمكن لها أن تذوي في فئتين مجاورتين ما بدا منطقياً أكثر
.الكتاب ممتع و سهل الفهم، غير ملل و قد تنهيه في جلسة

[Erin Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting! Super easy and quick to read but still gives you a great overview of the enneagram and helps place you on it. Also gives you tips for areas you may struggle in based on your type. Made more sense to me than the Myers-Briggs ever has. I want to read a more detailed book on the enneagram now.

[Danni Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute, simple, well-laid-out book. I feel like it helped me understand the enneagram better, even though I'm still not 100% clear about where I fit into it personally. It offers some perspectives that I haven't encountered before, such as a list of things each type would "never" do. The illustrations add a clever dimension to the presentation of this information.

[Mayada Aref · Rating 5 out of 5]

عجبني جدا و حسيت انه دقيق جدا .
رحلة مممتعة لاكتشاف نفسك و احتياجاتك و التعرف على قوالبك و اتجاهاتك
استفدت منه جدااا و يعتبر الاول اللي يقنعني بمنهجه و تصنيفاته في مجال تحليل الشخصيات

[Janet Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book difficult in that it asked me to base my responses on how I would have responded when I was 25 which was quite some time ago & way beyond an accurate recall! However I feel it may be a useful quick dip if I need to recall the 9 personalities as I study the subject more. I liked its references to the Myers-Briggs & the 4 temperaments as I wondered if these would sit alongside the Enneagram

[Rachel | All the RAD Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the PERFECT starter book for all things Enneagram! Fun, easy (truly) to understand, full of illustrations and doodles, a breeze to read, helpful to have on hand, etc! Especially loved the insight on MBTI/Enneagram overlap— I find that stuff fascinating.

[Abeer Alamri · Rating 4 out of 5]

اعجبني مره , قريته بإجازه وطول السفر جلسنا نحلل شخصية كل من نشوف بناء على اللي انذكر بالكتاب =)
شخصيتي طلعت المكافح ^^

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why feel bad about myself at 68?

[Alexis Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another FANTASTIC read!! I really really liked this enneagram book solely because it was so easy to read so much information. Every aspect of life for each type was included and portrayed in such a digestible way. The little pictures/comics appealed a ton to the visual learner in me, too. This book began each section with a mini-test for each type, and that was THE most helpful thing. I quizzed family members and friends on their types and found myself truly enjoying the art of the Enneagram! I also finally figured out my wing reading this book and am proud to say I'm a 3 wing 2:) The coolest thing about this read, specifically, was how it not only connected your Enneagram to every part of your life, but also to the Myers-Briggs personality test! As someone who loves nothing more than to figure out why or how I respond to things the way I do, putting these parts of me together was so so so cool. This book was truly so engaging for me and every member of my house, so to anyone that is at all curious about the Enneagram: start here!

[Kindra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being new to enneagrams, this book is a great place to start. It’s very easy and straightforward to follow. I read this in conjunction with The Road Back to You and found both very useful. Neither book gives you a quiz to type yourself, you just have to read “I am” statements and figure it out for yourself. I found that hard to do so I googled an enneagram quiz to take. That helped me tremendously and I could read the book with clarity after that. Enneagrams Made Easy is a short quick read so I was able to read all the types, more than once, so I could feel familiar with enneagram system. I will need to read something else to hone in on my types “faults” so I can learn to manage and overcome them. But like I said, this book is a great place to start!

[Addy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not a great representation of the Enneagram. Like, at all. Most glaringly, it does not mention the core fears of each type once. You know, the most important aspect of the Enneagram. It's completely based on stereotypes without explaining why the stereotypes exist or why each type acts as they do. It only gets 2 stars instead of 1 because it did mention the 9 being like every other type and not like itself, and that there are phobic and counterphobic 6s

[Jennifer Greenlaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read a good amount about the Enneagram, and found this to be just a little too simplistic and stereotypical for a tool that really is about diving deep into your internal motivations. However, the title of the book is about the Enneagram made easy, and it definitely is that! I did enjoy the ending which compared the Enneagram types with the MBTI, which was very interesting.

[Matt McAlear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Lots of illustrations. Pretty basic book with not a ton of depth or science behind it. A good way to get another perspective and potential weaknesses/blind spots for yourself to improve though.

[Kaytee Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent, concise, readable treatment of the enneagram. the drawings add levity and sass to what could otherwise be a very dry subject.

[Allyn Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy to read and self-assess with clear examples from many relationship roles.

[Katrina Rigsbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely for someone just starting to learn about enneagrams. Nice to have all the types in one book for a quick place to refer to.

[Lauren Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read if understanding the enneagram personality types interest you at all!!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to read in conjunction with "The Road Back to You"

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guide to the Enneagram addresses each type's attributes, qualities, fears, and areas of needed improvement by providing well-organized bullet point lists with some text extrapolation. The guide is so simplified that it's easy for a reader to identify with the descriptions of multiple types, but for those who already know their Ennegram type, this could be a useful supplementary tool, as it was for me. I especially appreciated the section in the back which explains and graphs the overlap between this personality system and the MBTI.

Since I liked a number of things about this book, I thought that I would rate it three stars, but I have decided to dock a star for two reasons. Firstly, the author had the audacity to suggest that Ones should affirm themselves by saying that they are "already perfect," as if ANY self-respecting One would ever abuse the word "perfect" so egregiously. Secondly, the cartoons emphasize women's breasts in an incredibly unnecessary and distracting way.

However, many of the cartoons were funny, and they did add some benefit to the book. My favorite was the one about Fours: "I always forget about it IMMEDIATELY when anyone hurts my feelings... like Nancy did on Thursday, August eighth, 1989, at 9:37 PM..." That's me. Only, it was a lot funnier before I got to the end of the book, saw an address you could write to for cassette tapes, and realized that this book was published in 1994. However, it does say a lot about Fours and about me that I never questioned the joke of someone still remembering the time and date of an offense from thirty years ago.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may seem counterintuitive that a book with so many cartoons could be on the money on personality types and communication pitfalls, but in fact, this book is wonderful. As a follower of the Enneagram for 2-3 years now, I have been to lots of classes and have enjoyed lots of appropriate books and discussion, and this book nails it every time. I recommend highly for self discovery and learning about others.

[Roxanne Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep trying to find a book on the enneagram that gives me a straightforward result. I tend to score identically across several (different) types and it ends up being a lot of words without specific usable insights.

In fairness, I have found the MBTI to be simpler and yet with more depth. So my feedback is part for the book and part for the enneagram tool itself. I do know others who find it very useful.

[Susy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This could be called "Enneagram for Dummies." I love how this book breaks down all nine Enneagram types and simplifies them and the characteristics that go with them. Cartoons within also provide easy to understand examples of how each type thinks and reacts. This is a great reference book and one I'm sure I will turn to often as I continue to learn more about my Enneagram type.

[Mohamed Nour kholani · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب رائع لكني لم اقرأ الا القسم الخاص بشخصيتي وأكتشفت اني من فئة المراقب

[Hayat · Rating 2 out of 5]

كتاب في 112 صفحةعن أنواع الشخصيات وأن كل شخصية تكون متأثرةبشخصيات أخرى...معلومات كثيرة جدا وتحتاج دقة مرهقة لتحديد شخصية الأناس حولنا....وبكن تمكنت من معرفة أني محبة للحياة متأثرةشخصيتي بالقيادة...

[Ahmed Zakaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

قريته من حوالى سنتين وكل فترة لازم ارجع اقلب فى الشخصيات وانواعها وازاى الواحد يتعامل معاهم.. من الكتب الل افادتنى جدا ف حياتى

[Lassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer to make the enneagram accessible and understandable.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so nice and short! It was a great resource to get a good idea of all the Enneagram types, how they relate, and tests for each personality!