Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
‘the most important’ Principle of our favorite personality theory? That one is easy! The most important Principle of the Wakefield Doctrine is: we all live our lives in one of three personal reality(s). We have the potential for it (our reality) to be one of three, at an early age it happens that we find ourselves in:
- the reality of the Outsider (clarks)…another, very useful way to say this is, we relate ourselves to the world around us as ‘the Outsider’
- the life of the Predator (scotts)… they would say, ‘life is happening now, there are threats and there are opportunities, life is neither bad nor good, it simply is…lighten up and do something!’
- the world of the Herd Member (rogers) the world has Rules, there are 2,398 ways to do a thing and only one of those is the Right Way, a good life is the result of giving your all to find that way and be the example of why it’s the right way
Simple enough, right? Oh, one more (yeah, a very important Principle): these worldviews? real. seriously. real as in there are threats and prey and traps to be sniffed out, if you’re living as a scott. that the world is a quantifiable place? why do you think rogers make the best engineers and Chefs? The reason I emphasize this, is that, it is the Most Important Difference between the Doctrine and those other personality systems. That is: I do not find myself having to: ‘speak clearly, for crying out loud’ or ‘don’t slouch!’ or ‘use apostrophes‘ or ‘great insight, now back it up with some empirical evidence, already!’ because I’m trying to be difficult (well, maybe a little). I’m doing it because those are coping strategies that works best for a person who is trying to get by in the reality of ‘the Outsider’. Bottom line? the ‘personality types of the Wakefield Doctrine are not categories, and they are not matrixeseses… does factoring in…..er factors, place me in a certain group according to my preferences and traits and peccadilloes? No. That’s not what we do here at the Wakefield Doctrine.
The reason I refer to myself as a clark* is that it reflects ‘how I relate myself to the world around me‘.
And scotts are not just Tasmanian devils, (barely able to restrain their enthusiasm), teaching pre-K children with a fiercely protective love and, given half a chance, inclined to throw the class in a mini-van for a road trip to the stockyards, rather than bore them to sleep with rote lessons. No! they are people who have developed the necessary skills and strategies to succeed in the world of Predator and prey. And rogers know that how they do whatever they do, counts. The fastidiousness that they bring to everything they do, (from cooking a meal to learning to use a compound bow) is simply what the world demands.
To apply the Wakefield Doctrine does not involve: answer(ing) the following questions. (there is no) rate yourself. All that you need to do is ask: ‘how do you relate yourself to the world around you?‘
the 2nd (second) Most Important Principle? ‘everyone does everything, at one time or another’.
Without this Principle, we’d all be sitting on the ground trying to figure out how the Wakefield Doctrine defines: putting a ship in a bottle, taking pride in an exceptional skill with a Dymo label gun, playing guitar louder than anyone, wearing stiletto heels to the supermarket and not looking like a hooker, explaining the secret of the universe (with a straight face)…. nope! this ‘everything Rule’ is all you will need to make the Wakefield Doctrine useful and fun (and) will make you the life of the party.
Rather than get bogged down when someone says, ‘I enjoy being alone! What’s your Doctrine say about that, huh??’ all you need do is infer that person’s predominant worldview and ask (yourself) ‘how does ‘being alone’ manifest in their world (of the Outsider or the Predator or the Herd Member?)’ If you have correctly inferred the worldview of the person, you will then know more about them than you have any right to know…
try it today!**
*to be correct, technically-speaking, it would be ‘predominant clark with a strong secondary scottian and weak tertiary rogerian aspect
** yes, the everything Rule applies to everything, including this suggestion. ‘try it today’ exists as a (slightly but distinguishably different command in the world of a clark, the life of a roger or the roller coaster of a scott)
About clarkscottroger
This. A good post. A “simple” post. Good reminder.
Here’s “where I’m at” (as they say) – the point of now and again, but not always, stopping myself to do 2 things when engaged in conversation or activity with another.
1) Identify how the other person is relating themselves to the world (clark, scott or roger). This I actually do ALL the time.
2) Remind myself to look at situation, conversation, task, not only as how it’s filtered through my own world view but how it is manifested by the other person. What does this thing, be it request to perform a task, expression of a desire, emotional response..what does it represent to the other person?
Hey wait! There’s one more thing! Choosing how I act/react based on those 2 reminders up there. No. It’s not a lot of work. It takes practice. And time.
(Yes, yes I’m finished)
D- Actually this is a great practical reminder as well… thanks Denise!
C-This is the stuff I am looking for in the book subtextual blocks… you know like the ” How To …” books… ” The Wakefield Doctrine Made Easy.” This is the theory , this is how to put it to use…
C- This was a great reminder and at the same time a really good intro piece.
HEY I RECOGNIZE THAT PUKE-FREE PRE-K TEACHER!
oh yeah, totally foolish aside… the photo on this page? Quick look I thought it was the Enterprise…no, Im not a Clark … why would you ask?
lol
that’s one of those that stick in my head (when writing) that’s not the central issue but its a Dymo Marker
Me too! I recognize her!
z
‘yeah..it’s the simple and direct stuff that gives me the most trouble!
yeah, lets not tell her!
lol thank you for that reflectionation on the practical app of the Doctrine
Yup. An awesome reminder. Each time you *do* one of these reminder posts, I’m reminded that 1. I am indeed a Clark. 2. Secondary Scott. 3. I have liked Boy Scotts for almost always but think my husband may just be more of a Clark than I thought he was which is good. Those Rogers can bite my $%^##
yeah, fun innit?
I am a Scott, my husband is a Clark. Thanks for the ‘how-to’ on discerning one’s calling.
You are welcome!
This is fascinating…
Thank you!
…it gets better, too!
Pretty sure my brother is a Roger. He had one of those labelers (that I was never allowed to touch) and he labeled EVERYTHING with it.
…(if he had a workshop did he have a pegboard with each tool outlined (where it was supposed to hang?))
He didn’t have one, but if he did, he would have. He does a spreadsheet for Thanksgiving dinner.
lol you realize, of course, that Thanksgiving is the most rogerian of all the holidays.
Dyanne, I am impressed beyond words. Spreadsheet does spell r-o-g-e-r doesn’t it? LOL
…For Thanksgiving dinner that is:)