Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

‘Herd Member’ is, of course, the behavioral paradigm of our rogerian friends.

The ‘Herd’ is not simply a figurative reference to others of like mind or interests, it is (also) a reference to the quantifiable/knowable nature of the world (as experienced by those growing up and developing in the rogerian worldview. When a roger says something about how, ‘that’s simply the way it’s done‘ or ‘it’s always been that way‘ or ‘you can’t fight City Hall‘, he/she is not referring to a specific group of people, but to the force of tradition, the power of inertia.

As we all know, part of the mission, the true ambition, of the Wakefield Doctrine is to understand/appreciate, to genuinely know the reality of ‘the other two’ worldviews. The amazing thing about the Wakefield Doctrine is the efficacy of (it’s) description of how a clark or a scott or a roger experiences the world:

• how clarks are optimistic and yet fear hope…
• how scotts love the attention of the people around them, yet fear their own appetite (for this attention), and
• the way rogers, always searching for the Perfect Way/the Right Way,  while still having to contend with their own drive to simply imitate what they see others before them have done… safe, but un-satisfying.

Impressive insight, I know!*  However there is much more to be discovered, far inside the reality of the three personality types. The challenge lies in the fact that there are things, ideas, concepts that exist in the reality of rogers (and scotts) that simply do not exist in my Outsider worldview, so how do I see what does not exist for me?

A couple of years ago, I tried writing ‘real life’ scenaria, in order to illustrate the kinds of (different) choices clarks and scotts and rogers make when confronting everyday situations. I wrote one about waiting to interview for a job in a restaurant. (In this scenario), our character (Emma…or maybe it was Emily) arrived on time for her interview, but the place was very busy. The owner/cook was in the kitchen, barely keeping up with the orders and the only waitress was running around like crazy and our Emily was told to have a seat (at the only empty table in the place) and wait. I then proposed how our heroine might act. Actually, I proposed three different course of actions (three worldviews, right?). One of the options for Emily: to get up and start ‘bussing’ tables, helping  wherever possible, such as clearing off empty tables. Of course, I had two other suggested ways for Emily to respond to having to wait for her appointment.
I presented the scenario to a roger and her response (to the option of getting up and helping out) was to say, ‘what?! that’d be crazy! she can’t do that!!’ Her response was so… heartfelt and unequivocal that I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. I immediately sought out another known roger and…. the same reaction!!  “No way!! if she wants the job that’s the perfect way to be assured of not getting it!!”  Naturally I was intrigued and began to suspect that I’d stumbled upon ‘an artifact’ of the rogerian worldview that was totally invisible to me, i.e. did not exist in my personal reality.
The clues were not the simple disagreement with the suggestion that Emily help out while she sat waiting, the clues were in the level of emotion that manifested (in the roger’s objection to this course of action).

The result: the discovery of ‘referential authority’. I might save a full discussion of this for the letter ‘R’, suffice it to say, that when a roger wishes to compel another to act a certain way, they will almost always invoke a power/authority that is outside… outside of themselves, outside of the person they are trying to compel. A separate source.
“Well, I understand how you feel, clark, I sympathize, I really do but my hands are tied… you know how it is”  or ” well, because that’s what the manual/the company policy/common sense requires of me in this situation. You understand, don’t you?”  or  “I really wish I could, I even argued your case, but the powers that be…you can’t fight City Hall.” …. “I really hope we can continue to be friends… you know, it’s just something I have to do.” …”Just wait until your father gets home.”  “If you ever hope to get a boyfriend, you need to start acting like everyone else…I just don’t understand why you need to always act so weird.”

what?   oh, yeah.  So that’s how we discovered the rogerian concept of ‘referential authority’

Hey!! speaking of scotts…. I was communicating with our friend Christine and she had an idea that I think I’ll try. Flipping through a paper dictionary and getting a truly random word…  something in a ‘J’ is next, I think…. all I need to do is find a paper dictionary!

* lol… hey! I’m trying!