The 9 Ways Of Working

by Michael J. Goldberg

The 9 Ways of Working introduces the nine personality styles of the Enneagram, a classic, highly powerful approach to work and life. Each of the Enneagram's nine types has a distinct worldview which determines how they think, what they want, and why they act the way they do. You'll recognize the personality types of the people you work with---colleagues, clients, bosses---as well as your own. And you'll discover the most effective ways to work with these
Drawing on twenty-five years of teaching and consulting, Michael Goldberg's rich descriptions catch the "aha!" of each style with insightful anecdotes and real-life stories. He shows how each style is likely to connect with or miss the others, what kind of leadership is right for certain situations, and how each style makes important decisions and gets work done. You'll see the special gifts and talents of each style, their limits and blind spots, and when they will shine and when they will wilt. The 9 Ways of Working is packed with practical tips and cautions for each style and for working with each style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Business, Self Help, Leadership, Reference

351 pages, Paperback

First published April 21, 1999

Reviews

[Marie]

I read this book for a training session I'm helping facilitate at work, and I found it very illuminating. It's interesting to learn what people's enneagram types are and how they operate at best and at worst. The interesting thing about the enneagram model is that every type has "wings" and high-performance and stress points, so no one is stuck at one particular type.

The goal is to learn about how to communicate and work together more effectively by understanding each other better.

[Mayari]

Enneagram fanfiction parading as objective information. It was mediocre at best, and not useful/misleading at worst. Some of the claims about nearly every type were bold but purely speculative. Sometimes it borders on patronizing, which is one thing, but there's no real substance to any of it. I don't recommend Nine Ways to anyone. The only "good" thing that came out of reading it is that it gives some new information that isn't in other books. Which isn't much, considering the author is presenting personal opinions as objective fact. Though he's either projecting, exaggerating false information with unearned confidence, and even making things up with ungrounded claims. Behavioral stereotypes aren't very good evidence for typing. Goldberg fails to understand this and it shows. It was not worth it. I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

Edit: Researched. The autism book by this author is something. I didn't respect this author's work already, but now I'm definitely sure this guy's words are ridiculous. He has a history of claiming others are non-objective but that he is clearly the objective one. He has a habit of publishing his fanfiction of reality, and spreading harmful misinformation. No wonder this enneagram book was so bad, nothing is actually based on fact. Just parading as fact with confidence that it's just stupid. Don't give any of his books a chance or a grain of salt.

[Jen]

This is a very accessible translation of the Enneagram personality types to a work setting. You'll find tips and tricks for supervising, reporting to, and working alongside all the various types, with helpful strategies for appealing to the lens through which different people understand and process the world. Not a conclusive introduction to the Enneagram, but a helpful tool if you are somewhat familiar with the system.

[Edward Hodge]

A very practical look at how our ways of being affect our work lives and the lives of those we work with. I've read several Enneagram books and learned a lot of new things in this one. Very readable as well.

[Rachel]

I actually thought this book was really well done. Even though some of the examples are a bit dated it still stood the test of time.

[Ramya]

Interesting explanation of the Enneagram method of categorizing personalities and understanding their motivations so you can work better with you work colleagues and teams. But, as the author himself warns, this is not a way to label yourself and people around you but a way to look beyond behavior to the intent behind it!

[Janet]

Very helpful when dealing with co-workers. Good to use to get folks talking, not blaming.

[Josh L.]

Great workplace guide to the Enneagram. Thorough explanation of types, with lots of examples and cases