Organizational Metal Detector: Revealing Problems and Future Risks with the Enneagram

I love problems. Well, I love when I can name a problem. Naming a problem is already a huge step towards the solution. When you can actually see what you are up against, you can create a plan to move past it.

This is why I love the Enneagram. A lot of people think that the Enneagram is simply a personality test to help you learn more about yourself, which is true. But it is so much more. The Enneagram can actually be used as a powerful tool for organizational analysis, strategic goal alignment and team vision.

When the Enneagram is used at an organizational level, it becomes less about typing individuals and more about reading the system. It reveals where pressure is building, where energy is concentrated, and where future risks are quietly forming.

1. It Reveals Concentrations of Power, Control, and Influence

In one organization I worked with, more than 50% of the team identified as Enneagram 8. This created a highly driven, decisive culture where people were comfortable with intensity and directness. It also created a predictable pressure point.

Multiple autonomy-driven, justice-oriented people were operating inside unclear decision-making structures. Power was constantly being negotiated, often implicitly. Before the project concluded, one team member resigned following a significant power dispute.

The Enneagram didn’t cause the conflict, it revealed the terrain. When you can see where certain energies are concentrated, you can anticipate friction and design structures that support healthier use of that power.

2. It Distinguishes Between True Type Patterns and Stress States

In another organization undergoing a major transition, nearly everyone initially mistyped as an Enneagram 6. Anxiety was high and people were scanning for risk, questioning decisions, and struggling with uncertainty.

At first glance, it appeared the organization was largely made up of Type 6s. In reality, the organization was under sustained stress.

The Enneagram helps differentiate who people fundamentally are from what pressure is doing to them. That distinction prevents leaders from mislabeling people and instead directs attention toward system-level overwhelm.

3. It Exposes Structural Blind Spots in Decision-Making

Every Enneagram type privileges certain kinds of information: some lead with instinct and speed, some prioritize emotional and relational impact and some rely heavily on logic, data, and analysis.

When you map the balance across the centres of intelligence, patterns begin to emerge:

• Where decisions skew too fast or too slow

• Where people impact is overlooked

• Where data is over-weighted or under-weighted

Instead of asking, “Why do we keep missing this?” organizations can ask, “What perspective are we missing from the room?”

4. It Surfaces Unconscious Bias in Hiring, Promotion, and Succession Planning

Most organizations believe they hire for diversity however many unintentionally hire for familiarity.

Leaders tend to feel most comfortable with people who think, communicate, and move through the world in similar ways. Over time, this creates invisible cloning.

Enneagram data can reveal:

• Overrepresentation of certain styles in leadership

• Promotion pathways that favour specific personalities

• Gaps in succession pipelines

This allows organizations to make more conscious, strategic people decisions.

5. It Acts as an Early-Warning System for Burnout and Turnover

Different types burn out in different ways. Common causes are over-responsibility, loss of meaning, lack of autonomy and chronic uncertainty. Each of us have our own threshold for the stressors of our role.

When you understand the dominant patterns inside a team, you can anticipate where strain is most likely to surface and what kind of support will actually help.

This shifts turnover from a surprise to a signal.

More Than a Personality System

This is why the Enneagram is much more than a personality system. It is a lens for seeing what is already happening beneath the surface of an organization. When you can name the real problem, the power imbalance, the stress response, the blind spot in decision-making, the unconscious bias in hiring, you move from reaction to strategy. You stop personalizing systemic issues and start designing better systems.

The Enneagram does not create problems. It reveals them. And once you can see what you are up against, you can build structures, supports, and strategies that move your organization forward with intention.

Naming the problem is not the end of the work. It is the beginning of intelligent change.