I took the Enneagram test today as a part of a training program. Apparently the technique was developed and used in ancient times in Middle East by the Sufi Saints.
Though I am wary of such tests, today the few people I knew in the class (and with whom I had spent considerable amount of working time) aptly fitted their personality type. And as the entire test consists of 3 seemingly disjointed tests, its difficult to tame/tweak the test.In fact, the Instructor pointed out their behavior in previous sessions and co-related with their personality type. There’s  lots of literature available on the web. Strongly recommended, if you work in a team.I am a Type 8.

How true are these tests?

Update 1 : Discussion on Aardvark.

Update 2 : Discussion on Quora.

Came across this BW interview with Steve Jobs. His answer to the question on why Apple struggled to Innovate before he returned in 1997 :

You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together. Otherwise, you can get great pieces of technology all floating around the universe. But it doesn’t add up to much. That’s what was missing at Apple for a while. There were bits and pieces of interesting things floating around, but not that gravitational pull.

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A Senior team member pasted this card….

From The Eagle Works…

From The Eagle Works…

…overwhelmed.

One of the blogs I read has a post with a list of questions…supposedly to get to know your friends better.Here are my answers:

1. What is your occupation right now?
>>Visiting card says Sr. Engineer but consider myself a musician!

2. What color are your socks?
>>No socks.Yep you can’t expect anything more from an engineer…

3. What are you listening to right now?
>>Classic Rock….Led Zep anyday….Stairway to Heaven playing in my car for the past 1 month in repeat mode :-O

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
>>Paneer Chilly Sandwich + Cold Coffee (my staple diet)

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
>>Hell ya….just need a Hummer….

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
>>Customer Care of ………….

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
>>Well her posts are good and great in between.

8. How old are you today?
>>27 soon to be 28!

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
>>One and only F1.Nothing else worth the time spent!

10. What is your favorite drink?
>>Scotch.period.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
>>No.I like all the colors with no hues.

12. Favorite food?
>>Anything spicy.Did  I mention only Veg please.

13. What is the last movie you watched?
>>Rock On

14. Favorite day of the year?
>>All Friday’s

15. How do you vent anger?
>>Reverse Gear….I mean by going silent….

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
>>Had a red colored Hot Wheels Car

17. What is your favorite season?
>>Winter

18. Cherries or Blueberries?
>>Neither

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?
>>Yep

20. Who is the most likely to respond?
>>Many

21. Who is least likely to respond?
>>Again many

22. Living arrangements?
>>Practically nil.

23. When was the last time you cried?
>>Probably a quarter of a century ago…Not that I remember….

24. What is on the floor of your closet?
>>Closet…whats that???

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are?
>>???

26. What did you do last night?
>>Was configuring my new Dell XPS 1330 lappy.

27. What are you most afraid of being lost?
>>My family

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
>>None.Absolutely vegetarian wrt food…..

29. Favorite dog breed(s)
>>Bull

30. Favorite day of the week?
>>Again Friday

31. How many states have you lived in?
>>2

32. Diamonds or pearls?
>>I might pay for them….so neither.

33. What is your favorite flower?
>>A red rose is perfect.