Holy Ideas
Introduction
The Holy Ideas
20 Frequently Asked Questions
Comments & Pictures
Bios of Facilitators
Sample Study Questions
Music and Poetry by Type
Application
Links
Bios of Facilitators

JoAnne Tybinka (Enneagram type 3) began working with the Enneagram of Personality in 1992 and certified with Daniels/Palmer as a teacher in the Narrative Tradition. She served on the Spirituality Track of that association for four years and was Track Chair for two years. She was Program Chairperson for the year 2000 Narrative Tradition Teachers Conference. Additionally, she was a presenter at the 2000 and 2003 International Enneagram Conferences.

As is often the case with Enneagram type 3, the impetus for JoAnne's spiritual transformation was financial disaster and physical exhaustion, forcing her to operate within the parameters of Holy Law and to recognize its self-optimizing thrust. A divorce, two business failures (over-extension), a life-threatening accident (requiring two years of healing), the premature death of her joyful lab/golden retriever, Sonny, and the hospice vigil and death of her beloved friend have all helped her recognize and embrace the Holy Harmony in her life.

Back on her feet, JoAnne moves more cautiously now, waiting for clarity before moving forward. She is married again (to an Enneagram type 6), and continues to find challenges in the 3 - 6 compromise. She subscribes to the principle of Holy Hope!

JoAnne is President of Business Dialogue, Inc. (www.businessdialogue.com), a training and development firm that specializes in communication skill development and team building. She uses the Enneagram extensively in her work. Clients include American President Companies, Ltd., Levi Strauss, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.



Steve Smith (Enneagram type 7) is a gifted facilitator and veteran of more than twenty years of corporate experience in sales training and project management. He first encountered scattered bits of Enneagram wisdom in New York during the 1980s while working in training and development for Knoll International and raising a young son named Cameron (Enneagram type 9) with his actress/wife Gigi (Enneagram type 4).

Transferred by Westinghouse to the Bay Area in 1993, Steve settled in for a closer look at the Enneagram with the Palmer/Daniels Narrative Tradition group and connected with many Enneagram pioneers. Since that time, through many readjustments in life and career, he has continued to weave Enneagram insights into his search for understanding of Holy Work, Holy Plan, and Holy Wisdom.

Among the many blessings he received from the initial Holy Ideas study process and retreat in October 2004 was the realization that he is a Social Seven. This new knowledge has helped him understand his propensity for joining such a large and eclectic variety of groups and people over the years, including the Society of Friends and the AFS foreign exchange program in Pennsylvania; the Caravan Touring Theatre, Outward Bounders, mountaineers, and dulcimer players in Colorado; loggers, salmon canners, and kayakers in Alaska; poets, coal miners, and cattle ranchers in Wyoming; architecture and design aficionados and Tribecca performance artists in New York; Premier Executive members and salespeople everywhere; public school advocates, Boy Scouts, caboose parents, and Presbyterian Church choirs in California; Internet and VC options junkies, adult educators, and various and sundry spiritual seekers of greater resonance and wisdom in the everyday.

Steve has made many career moves and personal changes throughout his life, including acquiring a M.A. in Developmental Theater from the University of Colorado. He and his family, now including seven-year-old Keenan (Enneagram type 4), are currently hanging by their collective fingernails on the brink of ruin in the impossibly beautiful Oakland Hills, surrounded by several great communities and a world of possibilities.



Tom Flautt (Enneagram type 5), teacher and consultant, participated in the Holy Ideas Study Group and Retreat in 2005-6 and is presently studying with Sandra Maitri's International Retreat Group. He has taught Enneagram introductory and advanced classes in the Cincinnati area to individuals and organizations.

Tom became interested in self development during mid-life by studying Carl Jung as a way of understanding himself and his relationships. Later, he learned about Myers-Briggs type and used it to help Procter & Gamble research chemists and engineers to manage themselves and others. He decided to study the Enneagram as a retirement project—he was curious—why do we need another typing system? The first thing he discovered was that he was an extraverted 5.Then he realized that the Enneagram typing system deals with a different part of the psyche than Myers-Briggs. Following his 5 path, he became certified by three schools: Helen Palmer/David Daniels, Don Riso/Russ Hudson, and Jerry Wagner. During this time he partnered with John Richards to conduct a research study which correlated the Enneagram with Myers Briggs. His present interests focus on spiritual path of the Enneagram. He has taught follow-on classes after Helen Palmer's spiritual seminars for the past seven years and is a designated teacher for her first two seminars. In addition, he teaches other retirees a course on Carl Jung's psychology at the Institute for Lifetime Education at the University of Cincinnati.

Recently, he has turned his talents to exterior transformation—he and his wife decided to "make over" their house of 15 years. This involved repainting and re-carpeting the whole house as well as getting new furniture for the bedroom and family room—resulting in a lot of learning about decision-making and conflict resolution!

Tom was born in Mississippi where he learned his social skills, went to college at St. Louis University to develop his intellectual skills, and sharpened his scientific skills at the University of California, Berkeley, resulting in a Ph.D. His first (and only) employer was Procter & Gamble where he worked as a research scientist, product development specialist, and management trainer during his career there. He is past president of the International Enneagram Association, acting president of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the IEA, as well as vice president of the Enneagram Center of the Ohio Valley.



Adelaide Smith (Enneagram type 2) is a dedicated student of the Enneagram. A practicing psychotherapist and energy medicine teacher for over thirty years, she was elated when she was first introduced to the Enneagram in the 80s. At last she had found a way to put the soul into psychotherapy. Certified in 1990 as an Enneagram Teacher in the Narrative Tradition, she uses the Enneagram daily in both her personal and professional life.

In her personal life, she has found the Enneagram to be the most powerful tool for self-awareness and spiritual growth for herself. By learning that twos "give to get," Adelaide began to understand why her "helping" was at times unappreciated if not down right intrusive. By recognizing the "pride" behind the belief that she was indispensable and had no needs, she began to connect with her use of manipulation as a way to maintain an image of someone who is generous, self-sufficient, and selfless. Behind that, of course, was the need for approval and love!

For Adelaide, hope lies in the recognition that fixation is not only our liability, but it is also the path to our true essence (or soul) and to our gift to the world. It is this unique combination that allows Adelaide to accept her flaws with compassion, using each slip into the fixation as a way to deepen humility and gain clarity about the true nature of her relationship to others.

Adelaide has taught the Enneagram in business and personal growth workshops. Her clients find that the Enneagram not only helps them understand themselves but also helps them develop compassion for themselves and the others in their lives. Using the Enneagram as a tool allows clients to focus on their strengths rather than getting mired in the negative aspects of their personality.

Adelaide is looking forward to exploring further the instinctual types (subtypes). She refers to the subtypes as instinctual types as they are not only based on survival instincts, but more importantly, they are not "sub" (less important and powerful than) type. As our understanding of the power of the instincts continues to grow, we see that type can perhaps be overshadowed by the instincts. Two people of the same Enneagram type but with different primary instinctual types can be less compatible than two of different types with the same primary instinctual type.