What is meant by such a concept as “reflexive control”? Translated from Latin, reflexio means “reflection” or “reversal”. Reflective refers to such a management in which each side seeks to do everything to make the opposite side act in a way that is beneficial to itself.
How are these actions performed? Reflexive control takes place when side A transmits certain information to side B. She should force the latter to develop a program of her behavior that will be beneficial for the source disseminating such information.
The use of reflective management is especially relevant in such areas of human activity as politics and diplomacy, business, administrative work, and also military affairs. The advantage of this direction is considered to be a flexible combination of information and force pressure on the representatives of the opposing side. The main goal is achieved through not so much power as thinking. The ability to apply the reflective approach to management is given to man by nature. Holders of such talent can control the “will of chance” by imposing their will.
So what is reflexive control?
Definition of a concept
Consider the terms "reflection" and "reflexive control." They have a close relationship with each other.
What is reflection? This term refers to a rather universal internal mechanism that contributes to increasing the effectiveness of the leader in terms of his own development, work in the organization, behavior in the group and the decisions he makes. Reflection is nothing but a process of self-regulation and self-knowledge. It allows a person to determine their desires, goals, mental actions, self-image, the meaning of life and experiences.
Reflection is also a specific property of thinking. It represents the mechanism by which a person rethinks his activities.
Reflection is necessary for a person to realize his activity as a whole and its individual elements (factors, goals and means). With its help, after the work done, people give an assessment of their behavior, which allows them to make the most correct decisions in the future.
Reflection and reflexive control play an important role in human life. The emergence of such a property of thinking indicates a high level of self-identity. Thanks to the appearance of reflection, a person has thoughts about his goals and desires, about this or that emotional reaction, as well as about his internal state. Thanks to this process, personality development takes place.
Reflection is important for a person regardless of his activities. However, a special role is assigned to this mechanism in intellectual work, where there is a complex group and interpersonal interaction. Such activity, without a doubt, is managerial. That is why the manager needs the ability not only of the intellectual plan, but also of social reflection. This will allow him to motivate the team to achieve the goal.
Knowledge of the theory of reflexive control is most necessary for the leader for the following:
- Assessment of the situation in the organization that relates to human behavior.
- Definitions, statements and choice of purpose.
- Analysis of production problems and making the best decisions.
- Definitions of actions and relationships in group and interpersonal interaction, as well as in choosing tactics and strategies for general organizational behavior.
- Explanations and evaluations of their official conduct.
How is this done?
What needs to be done to party A in order to motivate party B to make a decision? To this end, she needs:
- Find out the interests and needs of the opposite side. That is, you need a clear understanding of its motives that determine actions, decisions, and also the line of behavior.
- Predict or find out all the likely actions that can be taken by party B. It will be necessary to determine its specific intentions and goals, as well as how to achieve them, communication, resource capabilities and limiting external factors.
- Based on the data obtained, make a decision regarding your own behavior. Based on this concept, in the future it will be necessary to calculate the most profitable strategy for yourself.
- Find the best way and convey to the representative of party B such information about your intentions that will become a reason for party B to choose a specific behavior strategy. It must be such as to become beneficial to the adversary.
If a similar mechanism is launched by the other side, then it will also have to go through all the steps described above.
In general, the process of reflexive control is a way of looking at an object, yourself or another person from different perspectives. With the accumulation of results, each of these elements is merged into a single picture.
Attitude to the object
In the system of reflective control, such a concept as “position” is of key importance. This term is one or another relation of the subject of actions to the object of influence or to another person. Moreover, it is due to role, functional or other position, as well as knowledge, life and professional experience. The more the manager takes positions, analyzing the object, the higher the level of reflection can be used by him.
That is, the use of such a mechanism allows us to ensure the scale of coverage of the studied side, as well as the complexity and versatility of the vision of the situation.
Consciousness modes
Reflexive management in psychology is considered as a mechanism that allows a person to understand his activity in the most complex and subtle way. An example is a situation where the leader has to turn on various modes of consciousness. This happens, in particular, during large meetings. In such cases, the leader’s consciousness is constantly bifurcated, and sometimes it works in broad directions. So, speaking to an audience, he needs to constantly remember what he wants to state in his report. This condition is the first mode of consciousness. At the same time, the leader needs to constantly monitor the audience, noting how she reacts to his words and perceives all messages. This leads to the fact that a certain part of his consciousness constantly seeks to predict and see how the goal of the speech is achieved.
This condition is the second mode. But that is not all. Communicating with the audience, the leader observes not only her, but also herself. It is important for him to know what impression he makes on the audience, among which are the higher authorities, women and subordinates. In accordance with his goals and motives, the speaker constantly corrects himself. The third mode of consciousness allows him to do this.
Thanks to such complex work, a person more adequately and accurately sees the situation and understands it. The more modes of consciousness will be included, the more opportunities will be able to use to correct their own actions, which means a high degree of controllability of the situation.
Reflective Control Properties
A similar mechanism is mutually reflective. Moreover, it examines the various ranks of reflection for each subject. That is, party A believes that B assumes that A will make a certain decision based on the fact that B will answer her ... etc.
It is worth noting that the presence of superiority in the rank of the process of reflection gives an advantage in a competitive environment. The stronger side always imposes its own line of behavior on its adversary, which is why it replayes it. But such an advantage does not come by itself. It is achieved by using knowledge of the dynamics and patterns of competitive processes. In this case, the ability to reflectively control the enemy will also be required.
The manifestation of such a mechanism is observed not only in case of conflict situations and rivalry. Reflexive management can take place with partnership and cooperation.
Motivation
A similar role is given in reflection a rather important role. Motivation when using this mechanism determines both the purpose of the process and its content. Particular importance in this case is given to “smart misinformation”. It, along with a comprehensive counteraction to the management used by the competitor, represents the implementation of a number of activities. Among them:
- providing false information about existing intentions;
- the transfer of special information that can motivate the behavior of the enemy;
- own data protection;
- suppression of enemy information sources.
These events lead to the fact that the competing party begins to inadequately assess the state of the market, which will lead it to choose the wrong strategy and tactics of its behavior. One of the prerequisites for misinformation is its sufficient credibility.
Uncertainty of Results
In mutual reflection, there is always the danger that side B will not accept or understand the signals given by side A. It also happens that, having recognized their significance, competitors begin to respond to the information received, based on their interests.
In order to counter uncertainty, it is important to be able to assess the rank of the opponent’s reflection, as well as their risks. Such an action is a real art for the leader, backed up by knowledge, experience and talent. But such an ability is not at all the destiny of the elect. Anyone can take possession of it after conducting the appropriate training. This powerful weapon will allow for reflexive control of the conflict, leaving him victorious.
Process dynamism
This is another property of reflexive control, which is quite variable. The mechanism of mutual reflection will become effective only when each step of the given process is accompanied by variations regarding motives of opponents' behavior. At the same time, the continuous processing of information, as well as the presentation of misinformation, is important.
The party leading the reflexive control must not only monitor the behavior of the adversary. She needs to react in a timely manner to his actions, as well as to anticipate all the steps of a competitor, constantly misleading him about her intentions.
Types of Reflexive Control
The process we are considering can be either simple or complex.
What are these types of reflexive control? A simple mechanism for the development of this process has been described above. It represents the actions on the basis of which the situation (situation) is displayed in the control system.
A more complex (deep) type of reflection is in making the necessary decision, which will subsequently affect the psyche of senior managers of a competing company. It can be PR, advertising and other ways. In the future, they orient the activities of the enemy in that direction, which will be more profitable for the party leading reflexive control.
Methods used
To achieve this goal in reflective management finds application the following:
- Hiding and distorting the true situation. This is one of the most effective methods of reflexive control. He is imprisoned in giving misinformation.
- Formation of a competitor’s goal. Means for implementing this method are provocations, ideological sabotage, insidious "friendly advice", etc.
- Formation of a doctrine for a competitor to make a decision. Sometimes it is transmitted in the form of ordinary regulations. For example, if A, then B. The most effective common technique for the formation of the doctrine of the enemy is his training. For this, for example, for some time a product with a low competitiveness enters the market. The enemy gets used to this state of affairs and does not take any steps. At a certain point, party A begins to saturate the market with quality goods. This leads her competitor to economic collapse.
- Demonstration of false intentions. The goals of companies in the market are different. The most global of them consist in ruining a competitor and mastering his property. Private goals involve crowding out an adversary to gain complete market control. When applying the method of demonstrating false intentions, party A somewhat weakens its activity in a certain segment of the market. In this way, she is trying to create the basis for the adversary to make a false decision caused by an allegedly vacating niche. After conducting further serious economic operations in this place in the future, Side A will certainly succeed.
- Imposing one’s own point of view. The means of this method are conscious dumping to a competitor of specially prepared information about their financial situation.
Reflexive management in legal psychology
The phenomenon under consideration is quite multifaceted. This is confirmed by the consideration of reflection and reflexive management in legal psychology. In this discipline, these concepts help to reveal the nature of the investigator’s thinking, search, interrogation and other investigative actions.
The conflict interaction that takes place between the investigator and the person under investigation is considered within the boundaries of cognitive activity, as well as reflective control and reflective play. However, these concepts are applied not only in this direction. In recent years, reflection and reflexive management in legal psychology have taken place in the interpretation of professional communication.
For example, these concepts relate to the special type of thinking used by specialists in this field. It is reflective. Such thinking provides the lawyer with the solution to those professional tasks that were the most difficult intellectually. It is worth noting that the specificity of the reflexive mechanism has significant differences from traditional logical reasoning. The most characteristic representation for her is the phrase: "I think that the criminal thinks what I think."
Reflection in legal affairs gives reason to start an activity that will make it possible, if necessary, to correct the situation. Typically, this technique involves the use of reflective control. It is carried out not at all by imposing one’s will on another person. Reflexive management in legal psychology is seen as the transfer of some "grounds". Of these, a person seems to be deductively and must derive a solution that was predetermined by the transmitting party in advance. In order for this to happen, the picture of the situation must be quite acceptable for the person issuing the final verdict.