Book Review of the Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
by Ian Michael Cron and Suzanne Stabile
ISBN 978-0-8308-4619-1
IVP Formatio
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I read this book about 6 months ago, and it has been marinating in my mind since then.

Prior to reading this book, I was never a big fan of the enneagram. The first reason for this aversion was I associated "enneagram" with "pentagram". The second was the way the enneagram was used in circles that were spiritually insightful, but had no adherence to Christian teaching.

After reading The Road Back to You by Cron and Stabile, I have both an educated understanding of the true history of the enneagram, and greater knowledge of the enneagram's usefulness to personal development. The enneagram was developed by a Christian teacher named Evagrius, whose development of the enneagram corresponded to helping people avoid one of the seven deadly sins that was most closely related to their personality type. Since then, this tool has been used by spiritual seekers across faiths and around the world. Lately, social scientists have begun to do their own work with this inventory of personality analysis. Some of their work has been fruitful.

So the enneagram journey teaches you to own your strengths, while also acknowledging that one's gifts and strengths have a "dark-side" that requires growth and work to overcome. The internet tests and some of my friends I trust say they believe I am a 5. That may be correct, perhaps with a 6 wing.

If this is correct, it would mean that I would have to confront the fact that some people think of me as more detached, that often I will experience my emotional responses hours or even days after the emotional trigger has been pulled by someone (I had an employee I supervised who referred to this as being a "crock-pot" thinker). Also, I may have a tendency toward a "scarcity" mentality.

This book has some growth steps and helpful description of each personality type. It also has some helpful anecdotes that will give readers a mental picture of what each personality type may look like in real life situations.

All in all, I thought Cron and Stabile were both intelligent and down to earth, informative and engaging. I am eager to hear what others I know of think of this text.