Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the personality theory that you use today! some reading of instructions necessary)
The worst month on the calendar, frickin November.
Appearing like a ‘down-and-out’ mugger, you see him about a block ahead all scruffy and ill-kept, standing in a doorway directly on the path that you have little choice but to follow. You know what will happen, this being such an old routine. While still a good distance away, (say, 3 weeks) he starts reaching out to you, ‘hey buddy can I talk to you. I got something here that I think you’d want’. But, as much as you speed up your pace, avert your gaze, you know that if you want to get to your destination, you have to walk right past him.
Sorry, didn’t mean to get all artiste, literatini on you. We will discuss the Holiday season in much (much) more detail in the coming weeks, but today is the first day of the next to the last month of the year! Which brings up the subject of Time and the three personality types.
“1. A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future. 2a. An interval separating two points of this quantity; a duration. 2b. A system or reference frame in which such intervals are measured or such quantities are calculated.” ( “The American Heritage Science Dictionary @dictionary.com”. 2002. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/time?r=66. Retrieved 2011-04-09.courtsey of our friends at www.wikipedia.com )
So how is it possible to claim that there is a difference in Time among the three personality types? Because the Wakefield Doctrine’s value derives from enabling us to view people, places and things from the vantage point of a different (personal) reality. We claim that we know the other person ‘better than they know themselves’, not only because we can understand what a person does and guess ‘the why’ based on our relationship and experience with the person, but by applying the principles of the Wakefield Doctrine, we see the world as the other person actually experiences it! Examples:
- you have a boss that you need to ask for something, (if this person is a roger) you would be well advised to: a) do it in public if what you want from him is something he/she wants to give you or b) meet in private if there is likely to be conflict
- your scottian girlfriend has a way of referring to you as ‘my personal assistant, masseuse and lifemate’ when you go to parties, your best bet is to: a) laugh it off and wait for her to get old 2) confront her in public and challenge her to ‘take it back’*
Time is running out… ha ha.
We all know that the trick to getting the most out of this thing of ours, is to assume that ‘everyone does everything’ and that we must infer how a personality type (clark or scott or roger) would relate to what we are concerned with, which for today is Time:
- clarks see time as arbitrary and fairly variable, if asked about the passage of time (say, in answer to the question, ‘how long have you been writing this thing’), the clark will always underestimate ( “2 years!!”) clarks have a special ability in regards to time, find a clark and say to them, ‘hey tell me when 35 minutes have passed’ and they will, without a watch!
- scotts will have little use for time on the larger scale ( hey, scott all you have to do is work here for 25 years and you’ll…scott??! hey where’d he go?”)
- rogers lol too easy, no way..if you are reading this and need us to tell you about rogers and their feelings about time, it might be best if you click on over to another site, lets say “crocheting with eloise…the happy needles” or maybe www.girlscarsandmoregirlsmore .com
Thats all the time we have… again with the obvious jokes!
*that approach will take care of any problem with her calling you her assistant, any time in the future
About clarkscottroger
Why are the bosses always rogers in your examples, and why are the girlfriends always scotts?
Is there a parallel universe where things are different?
who is this?… really!
@roger
because, all things being equal, most common boss ‘positions’ are filled by rogers… think about ‘where most of the people work’, i.e.large(r) companies, more people, more layers of management. In this setting, rogers are the best suited in the role of Middle Manager.
…scotts can be bosses but are usually found in a smaller company, the reason being that scotts, by and large do not make good Managers (at least not in a ‘bureaucratic environment’ where their reposnsiblility lies in keeping the organiszation working smoothly.)
and clarks…they can be bosses, if you please sort of, in an organization where mentaly telepathy has replaced email and everyone promises to be polite.
I used to be indifferent to the month of November, but now my little one’s birthday is on Black Friday, so I am very excited for her second birthday. That said I am still a Scott being middle of the line on the concept of time.
@Janine my not being a fan of the major holdiday cycle, November has fallen leaves, early darkness and cold rain (all) as the warm up for the first of the Big Three ( Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years ). The time perception variance is really odd, scotts are in time, if not ‘on-time’ while clarks tend to be (either) ahead of or behind time and rogers are punctual. lol
This is really interesting. Even though I understand the logic behind it, I never would have thought about the three personality types seeing time differently. You make me think every day! Great post!
@Cari (to employ a faux rogerian expression) once you have opened Pandora’s door, everything and anything becomes possible! The fun and challenge is to convey to another person that you are seeing what they are seeing. I think next week I’ll start to explore the more effective (and less odd-look-generating) methods and approaches to talking to people unfamiliar with the Doctrine.
Haha, time. I’m aware of time, but I know I’m in the flow when I really do forget about it. :) I actually have to use a stopwatch (online) so that I can fit in everything I need to do in a day. But boy, even then, I find I need to get up from the computer from time to time so that I don’t end up leading this sedentary life. Haha!
@Cyndi
maybe for us (clarks) that not being linked/hooked to institutions as are rogers, we have less of the everyday items against which to mark (the passage of ) time.
@Cyndi – I know exactly what you are talking about with the “loss of time” concept” – both the good kind and the bad kind. LOL It’s a wonderful sensation when you are involved in something you have a passion for/love to do but a most awful sensation if it involves a sense of loss of control.
A most scottian thing, to be of the moment and at the same time a most clarklike thing, to be “lost” in a place where time has no boundaries.
“not being linked/hooked to institutions as are rogers” – clarks may be associated with institutions however clarks do not have the emotional connectioneness/sense of being a part of…..any institution. For rogers, it is grounding. For clarks, it often manifests as a threat.
In the words of the immortal Rex…..It’s Friday People! RRRRRR! (See! This post was written on Thursday and yet here I am leaving a comment – the next day, Friday! WTF. LOL