Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
No special significance to the subtitle to today’s Post. Just such an all around wonderful song. Although I’m not a lyrics or poetry guy, I sometimes a catch an extra sense of the interaction of the words in the lyrics a song. I was thinking, ‘I’ve used this in Posts more than 6 times before‘, but as I hear the words in my head, I’m thinking… suppose there’s a young Reader out there who has not actually heard Warren Zevon? Would they get the fun of the lyrics, would the internal rhythm of the words have the same impact, simply reading them?
the Wakefield Doctrine is a unique, fun and effective tool for understanding the behavior of the people in our lives. It is a way of looking at the world and how we relate ourselves to the people, the places and the things that make up our daily lives. The Wakefield Doctrine is focused on this relationship. The ‘starting point’ of the Doctrine is the nature/character of the personal reality that you grew up in, (that) formed the context for your learning about the world as a child and is, in fact, the arena in which you come to grips with the challenges of life. For the Wakefield Doctrine, your ‘personality type’ is not simply a label for the aggregate of your likes and dislikes, habits and obsessions, fears, phobias or true beliefs. For the Wakefield Doctrine, your ‘personality type’ is simply the best and most appropriate responses, strategies, accommodations and coping skills, given the nature of the reality that you grew up in and are living in today. Learn the characteristics of the three worldviews (personal realities), correctly infer which of (these three) a person is living in and you will know more about them than they know about themselves.
Learn the character of the reality of the Outsider (clarks), the life of the Predator (scotts) and the world of the Herd (rogers). Once you have learned the common reactions and responses of these personality types to everyday situations, you are ready for the fun part! Watch and observe the people around you: your First Period (math) Teacher who always wears the same jacket and tie on Mondays, the girl at the gas station/convenience store, the one who seems nice and friendly enough but sometimes laughs even though you haven’t said anything, the nurse who tells you to ‘take off all your clothes, put on the gown, (the open part towards the back) and the doctor will be right in’, (with the Doctrine in mind), you will notice how re-assuring her ‘ no-questions-are-necessary’ manner is and how she has a way of asking personal questions that you don’t feel embarrassed to answer. Everyone one you encounter today will be responding, reacting to, adapting and coping with the same circumstances that you see around you, except….. except! for some of the people in your day today, the world will be one in which they are Outsiders; these are clarks, and they will be trying not to be noticed and yet will hope that you appreciate how hard they work, even though they know they are doing whatever they are supposed to do…a little differently; (and as you make your way through the day today), taking the kids to daycare or basketball practice, you will encounter people who are not just ‘un-shy’ but are, somehow, hungry! these people seem to be thriving on everything that is going on around them, scotts live in the reality of the Predator and so everything they do is direct, full of energy, amusing and frightening… you like them and yet, there is something about their obvious confidence that makes you think about the childhood tale of Little Red Riding Hood… (and even at the end of your day, tonight) you might look around where you spend your nights and realize that some people are so reliable (in their demands) and so consistent (in their expectations) and yet… these people/children/spouses/TV personalities are those who grew up in a reality in which they have always been included… always a part of and, as members of the Herd, they know that there is a right way and a wrong way, they are rogers.
See how simple and fun this Doctrine is? Everything and everyone around you is available to help you practice the Wakefield Doctrine.
Two warnings:
- the Doctrine is a tool, it is not (an) Answer. It says nothing about right and wrong, good or bad, or This is the Way… a tool just a tool
- the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not for them… the Doctrine has nothing that you can use to make the people in your life: behave, quiet down, appreciate you, learn to get over their fears, stop being such a nag…
- if you continue learning the characteristics of the three worldviews, you will become ‘fluent’ in the Wakefield Doctrine and that will be cool…unfortunately, well before that happens, you will start to see the clarks and the scotts and the rogers in your life around… that’s kinda cool too, the only thing…. you will not, even if you decide this Doctrine is dumb or stupid, …you will not be able to not see the clarks and the scotts and the rogers around you…just thought I should warn you before you get in too deep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpYBT0XyvA
About clarkscottroger
OMG!
Why aren’t you writing this yet? I forgot…oh yeah, no damn good reason… THAT was fabulous! Perfect intro for a newbie!
Ok I wont go there anymore promise…just had to get one more in as my intention was NOT to do that at all but then you wrote this!
Warren Zevon… oh man…if I weren’t big on a specific Asian man at the time …. not that I would have ever had a chance with Warren but I may have lusted a bit longer… saw him in a very small venue in Northampton MA and he played Werewolves for an hour I swear… youd think folks would be sick of it but nope…just gotta be hot, sweaty, horny, some stoned and dancing enough I guess… Thanks for the happy flashback!
Now I regret not taking Warren to Gilligan’s Island in question 2. Dammit! Wait here I gotta go hit replay….
zoe
Never had the chance to see him, sounds like it mist have been something… thanks on the thing about the intro (one of my most persistent ‘themes’ is a Post as an intro…maybe there’s an angle! The Best of the Introduction to the Wakefield Doctrine Posts!) lol
Best-Of post could be fun and done lots of different ways… It seems I saw a book recently that was sort of like what you said above…yknow the other way around…it was a mess of intros for the same topic… sorry, have to think more to recall…no memory these days.
zoe
maybe that’s an angle ‘The Complete Book of Introductions to Books Yet to be Written’
Awesome angle! Remind me to tell you about something ‘re the sci-fi story…
That was excellent although I need tons more info. PS: We have a silver bullet from Warren Zevon (it is actually my cousin’s. I was supposed to wire wrap it but it was pretty complicated, as it is a bullet, However, Now I can do it! jhy
we have found that there is a point to where more information seems needed (to step up the use and enjoyment of the Doctrine) but frequently it is not so much new information as it is, ‘how does this relate to that’ sort of thing… ask away!
Yes, the Wakefield Doctrine is a tool. A very, very useful tool.
As to no 2, more specifically, “the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not for them… the Doctrine has nothing that you can use to make the people in your life: behave, quiet down, appreciate you, learn to get over their fears, stop being such a nag…” I wholeheartedly agree it is for me. But there’s also a No, but yes I need to voice. In the sense that once a person (armed with the Doctrine, which is to say, aware of the 3 personal realities) begins to interact differently with people, at some point, those people are going to notice. Depending on the situation and/or relatiionship, they will either not care or they will “alter” their own behavior in some way as a natural response to what they percieve is a difference in your behavior towards them.
Self development is a by product of actively using the Doctrine on a daily basis. Change CAN be affected. To repeat myself from the past, you might want to be sure you have the stomach for it.
This is a very good intro for people new to the doctrine. I was just discussing the doctrine with a friend of mine, as the subject of our children being so different from their siblings. She named her worldview in a hot second, and then went on to think about her kids. As I went through the scott/roger/clark she named each of her children. She thinks she has one of each.
I’m with Denise. The doctrine is for me. It helps me see myself better, but it also helps me see how other people DON’T think like me. It’s a realization I’m slow to understand. However, now that I’m getting there, I can use the doctrine to interact with people in different ways, based on their worldview. It can change a relationship for the better.
Christine
…exactly! (although sometimes, I get to thinking that I got to try and make this Doctrine…’sexier’…from a marketing popularity point of view), but the bottom line value in the Wakefield Doctrine is, as you put it in such scottian directness “The doctrine is for me. It helps me see myself better, but it also helps me see how other people DON’T think like me.” …having said that, there is the (small) matter of knowing what the other person is likely to do in virtually any situation, by knowing their worldview.
one cool thing about the scottian types, is that you get the most difficult part right away (the fact of other people experiencing the world in a manner likely to be different from yours*) the rest of it, the characteristics and other things that lead to ‘fluency’ in this personality theory of ours.
* the clarklike directness, yes lol