9 Strategies
How strategies work
The nine strategies are a model of personality. Each of us has one core strategy. Every strategy is built around one core motivation and one core fear. From these comes what a person notices, how they react under stress, and how they behave in relationships and at work.
The strategies fall into three centers: Heart, Head and Body. Neighboring strategies are wings, and each strategy shifts toward a different one under stress and in growth.
What drives each one
Heart CenterHead CenterBody Center
Strategy
Your core strategy comes from what motivates you most and what you fear most. According to the theory, it doesn't change over your lifetime, but how much it controls you does.
Wing
Every strategy sits next to two others, one number up and one down. One of them usually shows up more strongly in you and gives your strategy its color. For example, a Perfectionist with a 9 wing is calmer and more reserved; with a 2 wing, warmer and more active.
Instincts and subtypes
Besides their strategy, everyone has three instincts: self-preservation (safety, health, a secure base), social (the group, standing) and one-to-one (intense connection with one person). One usually dominates. Combining your strategy with your main instinct gives 27 subtypes.
Stress and growth
The lines inside the symbol connect each strategy with two others. Under stress we take on the less healthy traits of one of them; when we're doing well, the good from the other.
Head, heart, or body?
Heart Center
They react through feelings and relationships. The theme is self-image and the need to be valued: the Altruist through helping, the Strategist through success, the Individualist through uniqueness.
Head Center
They react through thinking. The theme is fear and uncertainty: the Expert retreats into knowledge, the Traditionalist seeks security, the Optimist escapes into possibilities.
Three Instincts
Self-Preservation Instinct
Attention automatically turns to safety and security: health, money, home, food, comfort, and reserves. People with this instinct in first place tend to be practical and reliable and think ahead about what they'll need. Under stress, they retreat into their home base.
Social Instinct
Attention turns to the group: who belongs to it, what status and role each person has, what matters in society. People with this instinct in first place pick up on the relationships between people, like getting involved in teams and communities, and care about what they contribute.
One-to-One Instinct
Attention turns to an intense connection with one person or one thing: chemistry, attraction, closeness, passion. People with this instinct in first place seek depth and intensity, can devote themselves fully to something, and get bored by superficial contact.
Where it comes from
The nine strategies are based on the enneagram. The individual strategies were described in the 1960s and 70s by Oscar Ichazo and the psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo, and the psychological approach was later developed further by Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson and Beatrice Chestnut, among others. The original enneagram also has spiritual and esoteric interpretations. We've left those out: we take only what helps you understand yourself and others, and present it in a modern, practical way.
What the test is and isn't
A strategy is not a diagnosis or a measure of ability. It doesn't say who is better or worse. It's a tool for self-discovery: it helps you name your own patterns and understand others better.
That's exactly why it works well in companies too. A team that knows its people's strategies understands why everyone works differently: some are driven by results, others by security or good relationships. People understand each other better, give more useful feedback, avoid needless conflict, and roles can be divided according to what each person enjoys and is good at. Leaders can then motivate and support each person in a different way.
If you're dealing with serious mental health issues, please see a professional.
How to find your strategy, wing, and subtype
In two steps. The first is free.
3w2One-to-One