Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
With such an evocative Title, the educated and discriminating Reader would expect this Post to contain: a) at least one (set) of bullet points, b) 3 descriptive ‘3rd party stories’1, c) a guarantee of success for all who try to use this ‘Wakefield Doctrine’ in their lives, and 4) at least one clever shifting of the perspective from which the topic is being presented.
…we’ll try.
It’s just that there is not a lot of time. This morning. Hell, there is not a lot of time right now, …this afternoon, ….this weekend 0r later in the month, (…after you get free of the holidays).
No time.
A friend told me that a friend had a stroke recently. The ‘stroke victim’ ( ‘strokee’) was seemingly alright, back to work. But he is saying that he finds himself dropping the ‘F Bomb’ with disturbing regularity. My immediate response was, “god, there is no time to waste, is there?”
Stop right here!
First helpful item: ….your response to the preceding vignette will aid you in establishing your personality type, did you think:
- nothing…it took a second to get the implications of the phrase ‘no time to waste’ but then you totally got it
- nothing…you were already picturing someone else as the victim of a stroke…so it was an interesting story, reminded you of something that happened last fall that was really quite similar
- felt good, you had some kind of feeling that you were communicating… gone now, but you know it was real
a clark, a scott and a roger are in an airplane at 35,000 feet. One of the two engines bursts into flames and falls off the wing! the scott laughs grabs the controls of the plane and gets it flying on a level, if not descending path… the roger shouts ‘hey, you don’t know how to fly this plane!’ and the clark laughs to himself.
…3 minutes later the other engine simply drops off the wings, duct tape and rusty bolts trailing it as it drops towards the earth below!
the clark suggests: “hey if we decrease the weight one of us might succeed in gliding this plane to the ground.. but who here is expendable?”
the scott says, “sorry folks, I’m at the controls here, so clearly I must be indispensable”
the roger looks offended and says, “yeah but who voted you to be pilot?”
the clark (finding one parachute under a seat), opens the door and says, “I’ll let the two of you come to an agreement” and jumps from the plane!
If you understand the underlying principle of the Wakefield Doctrine and (allow yourself) to perceive the actions and behavior of the people in your life today through the ‘lens’ of the three personality types, you will totally gain a new appreciation of your relationship with these people, your spouse…your friend…your boss and your employee…even that really rude person in front of you in the line at the Supermarket. Just remember, ‘the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not for them’.
“….hey!! that was frickin awesome!!! when that clark guy jumped out of the plane I couldn’t frickin believe it!!” scott
“well, I find your theory interesting and with a little work you might have something there”, the roger
” huh!” clark
1) in sales, to provide a prospect with a testimonial from a buyer or client, ostensibly neutral party is called a ‘third party story’ very effective!
About clarkscottroger
Oh man and that is why I haven’t flown in a plane in a few years, lol!! Seriously, some awesome insight and explanations here. Thanks as always!!
@Janine
lol … I needed to get back ‘on track’ with Doctrine Posts as I have (somehow) gotten overwhelmed by work* will be getting caught-up at the BB g later in the day.
*non-blog related activity lol
wait…someone jumping out of a plane had a strokee? :) Is my strawberry blonde showing? Do you have the Wakefield Doctrine remedial edition for us slow processors? :)
@Terrye
(I have a little pull with the people at this Doctrine organization…) so I will bend the ‘rules’* a bit and say this:
Listen to your instincts on this Wakefield Doctrine thing (you will, no matter what…but let yourself enjoy the fun that you sense is there.) You are, of the three personality types, the one that places action before reflection… you will tend to react rather than stop to think and you will tend to be right, because you have a habit of landing on your feet in most situations. Lets try this:
Some key points relating to the nature and character of the scottian personality type:
scotts are natural leaders (because they are certain, not necessarily right, but certain).
scotts are emotional in a way different from rogers. It is ‘for the moment’ emotion, not much grudge holding, more of an expression of the excitement they are feeling.
In a band it is always a scott who is the ‘lead singer’, (see leader above)
At a party, scotts will not hesitate to introduce themselves (to everyone)
For the most part, when confronted with a threat or other fear-generating situation, a scott will choose to attack rather than flee
scottian females can be remarkably sexy or quick witted, but hardly ever both.
How do you know when you encounter a scott?
The eyes. Scotts have a distinctive ‘focus’, their gaze is never incidental to their mood, the conversation they are engaged in, the scott will always be watching the surrounding environment for threats and opportunity.
Clark, another great post helping many to understand the differences. I’m afraid I’d be the Scott and grab the plane’s controls. Doing nothing or simply critiquing gives me no pleasure, but the challenge of facing the peril and overcoming the danger is indeed a rush to experience. Of course, with my knowledge of flying, I’d probably flip the switch releasing all fuel and end up wondering why I didn’t grab a parachute, but what the hell, you gotta give it a try. Great Job!
@Rich
if the truth be known, a part of me identifies with the personality type who simply assumes that to act is it’s own reward/justification! lol But the cool thing about the Doctrine is that it allows that I have a bit (actually more than a bit) of the scottian personality type in me…but I am still predominately a clark
a better way to make this distinction is that we are all on the plane and we can all chose (which of the three ways to act) but in the final analysis a plane with it’s engines falling off are perceived by/related to in three distinctively different ways by the three personality types.
thanks for the Commentation, Rich!
So let’s see…I identified with number one up there….”no time to waste but then I got it” lolol
And a clark take the ‘chute and jump out of a plane? I’d be all guilty feeling…and give it to someone else. Then again, I’ve never been in a situation like that so many I WOULD take the damned chute and fly off with it. HAHAHA.
@Cyndi
Sorry…we got you down for ‘give it to someone else’ which is a very clarklike view (about which we will have much to say in the future*)
*there is such a thing as being too selfless… lol
Really enjoyed this post of the airplane scene today, and how the three personalities handled it. Great post, thanks for sharing!
@Melanie
…yeah, that was a strange one, no? lol ( I will be the first to admit, there are days when I am as surprised as the Reader what ends up as a Post).