Derailment

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Discussion in a Parisian café during the Franco-Prussian War

Derailment (German: derailment) or derailing (German: derailing, colloquially : getting out of hand) is an anglicism that is used as a transitive construction - to derail something - or intransitively as behavior that gets out of hand. The designation is not to be understood in the sense of a term , but rather metaphorically . In business psychology, derailing describes the fatal behavior of uncontrolled executives. Within argumentation theory and discursive strategy research, the term has become established for a number of tactics with which debates are deliberately derailed . In this context, the term first found its way into relevant scientific publications in English-speaking countries, then also into German specialist publications and finally into popular scientific literature .

Derailment as a discussion strategy

The English word “derailment”, like its German equivalent, derailment, is a term originally derived from rail-bound transport . As a metaphor, he graphically refers to a rail accident. In connection with the word “tactics”, a pair of terms signals that the unfortunate course of the discussion is not fateful, but is brought about on purpose.

As a generic term , derailment summarizes a number of rhetorical tactics that have spread particularly in network communication and other social media and that are used to manipulate discussions . In this sense of the word derailment is based on the intention to use targeted strategies of argumentation to lead a conversation in a direction other than the one originally intended, to divert attention from the topic or to let controversies escalate. Understood in this way, derailment runs counter to a good culture of debate . With the advent and spread of the Internet , algorithms and viral effects are increasingly being used strategically to manipulate discussions - and beyond that, social processes or elections. As a result, terms such as fake news (false reports spread with manipulative intent) or whataboutism (distraction from criticism by focusing on other grievances) have established themselves as new anglicisms or so-called neologisms . In practice, their use ranges from an aside to an attempt to dominate a discussion and gain interpretative sovereignty over the issue at hand. Particularly popular, relevant to the derailing Sophismata how the Totschlag- , Dammbruch- and straw man or Nazi comparison have input into the vernacular found.

In 2009 the term derailment found its way into argumentation and strategy research, for example by Frans van Eemeren . With Florian Wanoschek at the latest, the term entered the scientific discourse of the German-speaking area three years later. It finally established itself in everyday language culture , also with the importance of influencing discussions that are intended to serve purposes other than understanding.

Derailment on the net

Johnny Haeusler , organizer of the re: publica web conference , defines derailing as a “distraction strategy in web discussions”. In contrast to internet trolls, “derailers” pretend to be interested in the topic, but then seize the discussion in order to let it get out of hand. Sometimes fake identities, so-called sock puppets , are used with different IP addresses to agree to oneself and to pretend a majority . This communication strategy is particularly common when it comes to right-wing extremist positions. Haeusler colors such comments white on his blog Spreeblick and has thus found a pragmatic “solution for comments between trolling and real contributions to the discussion”.

Andreas Weck, editor of the online platform t3n , drew attention to the preferred ideological reasons as a motive for derailing in his column entitled Derailing on the Internet. Posts with a societal focus always ran the risk of "getting derailed in the comment columns". Some comments would have no other purpose than "ridiculing" others.

Derailment Tactics

As part of his column Of course! In 2016 , the philosopher Daniel-Pascal Zorn published two articles on derailment tactics in the magazine Hohe Luft . "Derailment tactics are not aimed at the cause," said Zorn, "but at victory, even if it were fought unfairly and dirty". Polemics like to legitimize their actions according to the motto "If you fight fair, you have already lost". They considered themselves "rhetorically unbeatable" and set plenty of "signs [...] of their authority". Anyone who systematically derails discussions wants to "prove [...] how powerful they are". Various tactics would be used for this, which Zorn describes in detail:

  • Distraction and answer dictation - as attempts to "take control of the conversation"
  • Moving the goal post and authority simulation - as attempts to "determine the content [...] from the start"
  • Ironization - as an attempt to “arbitrarily determine the duty to justify one's own statements”.

In the second part, Zorn is dedicated to “personal forms of derailment” aimed at insulting, degrading and defaming the interlocutor. With their help, the credibility of the counterpart should be shaken or his intimidation achieved. They are called arguments ad hominem (relating to people) or arguments ad personam (aiming at the person). Examples of "establishing the social pecking order [...]" in this way can be found numerous in everyday situations. "The Achilles' heel of polemical conversation is its excess," says Zorn. Therefore, the “self-created appearance of one's own authority and superiority” must be repeated over and over again, because without this repetition it disappears very quickly. Derailment as a "rhetorical war of all against all" is constantly rehearsed, "on the Internet, but also on the street and in relevant magazines".

Derailment in business psychology

In economic and organizational psychology , derailment describes a person-related failure of executives that requires explanation, which has been investigated in the field of management consulting and leadership research since the mid-1980s . Here the term was introduced by Morgan McCall and Michael Lobardo in Off the Track: Why and How Successful Executives Get Derailed .

Rainer Bäcker speaks about management risks. Considerations on the "derailment" of executives from the fact that "executives fail with their personal behavior in their professional task not only in the short term and have no personal strategies to deal with this situation adequately, that is, solution-oriented". Failure is usually preceded by a "long-term process of excessive professional demands".

Personal factors

In 2014 the journal Wirtschaftspsychologie published a separate thematic issue under the title Managerversagen / Derailment (MvD) . In it, Rüdiger Hossiep and Olaf Ringelband published a study on the personality of top managers . They discussed possible “ dispositional derailment risks” for manager failure and linked the personality of top managers with various personality disorders . In an interview, Hossiep pleaded for the introduction of an ethics check for managers. In the same special issue, Ulrike Starker and Rüdiger von der Weth dealt with the subject of emotion and derailment and Thomas Giernalczyk u. a. with derailment from a psychodynamic perspective .

In her dissertation , Rabea Haag examined in particular the inner soul experience of executives during a derailment event and examined its effects: If the reaction to one's own experience is directed inward, symptoms of depression or burnout could develop. If the problem is externalized , "disputes with the employer or [...] harassment of employees" would be possible consequences.

The business psychologist Kai Externbrink from the University of Economics and Management (FOM) examined together with Moritz Keil the so-called dark triad of personality traits in the management levels of organizations. It consists of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy . The subject of their investigations are “productive and destructive facets”, whereby psychopathy is located in the subclinical area. A separate section is devoted to derailment as a possible willingness to act. According to Externbrink and Keil, women and men differ significantly in the three dimensions of the “dark triad” .

Heidi Möller and Alessa Antonia Müller published their article Manager-Derailment in the magazine Gruppe in 2017 . Interaction. Organization before. The manager failure has been "taboo for a long time", but is currently receiving "more and more attention both in the daily press and in the research context". From “empirically proven risk and resilience factors ” they derive recommendations “for the practice of personnel selection and development ”.

Herbert Csef from the University Hospital Würzburg devoted himself to the special and in two respects important aspect of narcissism as a basis for derailment of executives. On the one hand, narcissistic personalities are "particularly predestined" for the task of management, on the other hand, they can "have a particularly destructive effect through precisely this narcissism".

Consequences for the company

In 2012, the specialist magazine Personalführung reported the proportion of managers “who fail due to unfavorable personality factors” in the Anglo-Saxon region as 40 percent. However, this figure is not easily transferable because personal deficits are not taboo there to the same extent as elsewhere. As a result of the “unpredictability of the superior”, the employees reporting to them were observed to be unconscious , withdrawn and less willing to take on responsibility .

In May 2016, the magazine Organizational Consulting , Supervision, Coaching published a special issue on the derailment of executives . "In recent years," says Astrid Schreyögg in her editorial , there have been reports of "various kinds of derailments" that have plunged executives into "uncontrollable states of confusion". Such derailments would have “devastating effects” not only on managers and their careers, but also on employees and the entire organization. Rabea Haag and Heidi Möller from the University of Kassel described "two potential forms of development": one in which executives imploded and became mentally ill, and a second in which they practically exploded and in the process "caused considerable damage to their environment". The economists Kuhn and Weibler warn of the consequences of the derailment of executives for the lower management levels. If top management derails, there is also a risk of "lower and middle management" derailing in the context of collusionary interaction:

"Such socially irresponsible corporate management corresponds (a) with top management that is morally derailed (bad management) and always runs the risk of derailing economically (mad management), and (b) with middle / lower management, which in turn tends to moral derailment as a result of ongoing pressure to perform and is threatened by individual derailment (sad management). "

- Thomas Kuhn, Jürgen Weibler : Management derailment and system derailment

Einarsen et al. Dealt with manifestations of destructive leadership behavior. a. and defined it as "repeated and systematic behavior by a manager that harms the legitimate interests of an organization". In the second of the third edition of the textbook Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology for Bachelor's degrees, there is the note that destructive behavior is not only “tolerated” "in some companies" despite negative consequences "for those who are led" - provided that "conducive to the company's goals" - but "even explicitly desired if the company is in an emergency".

literature

Derailment in discussions

  • Scott F. Aikin, Robert B. Talisse: Why We Argue (And How We Should). A Guide to Political Disagreement in an Age of Unreason . 2nd Edition. Routledge, London 2019, ISBN 978-1-138-08741-5 , pp. 134-136 (English).
  • Yeliz Demir: Derailment of Strategic Maneuvering in a Multi-Participant Tv Debate. The Fallacy of Ignoratio Elenchi . In: Mersin Üniversitesi Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi . tape 15 , no. 1 . Mersin 2018, p. 25-58 (English).
  • Frans H. van Eemeren: Strategic maneuvering between rhetorical effectiveness and dialectical reasonableness . In: Henrique Jales Ribeiro (Ed.): Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Beginning of the XXIst Century . Coimbra 2009, p. 55-72 (English).
  • Frans H. van Eemeren: Fallacies as derailments of argumentative discourse. Acceptance based on understanding and critical assessment . In: Journal of Pragmatics . tape 59 , 2013, p. 141-152 (English).
  • Frans H. van Eemeren, Bart Garssen (Ed.): From Argument Schemes to Argumentative Relations in the Wild. A Variety of Contributions to Argumentation Theory (=  Argumentation Library . Volume 35 ). Springer, Cham, ISBN 978-3-03028366-7 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-030-28367-4 (English, (2020)).
  • Francisca A. Snoeck Henkemans: Praeterito as strategic maneuvering . In: Henrique Jales Ribeiro (Ed.): Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Beginning of the XXIst Century . Coimbra 2009, p. 73-86 (English).
  • Eveline T. Feteris: Strategic maneuvers with linguistic arguments in legal decisions . In: Eveline T. Feteris (Ed.): Argumentation and the Application of Legal Rules . Amsterdam 2009, p. 55-73 (English).
  • Florian Wanoschek: 'Rational consensus expropriation ' and the role of distraction in argumentative dialogues. An argumentation-theoretical and rhetorical-pragmatic investigation using the example of the argumentum ad hominem . Zugl. Univ. Diss. (=  Studies in Linguistics . Volume 18 ). Lit, Berlin, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-643-11689-5 .

Derailment among executives

  • Rainer Bäcker, Rabea Haag: Derailment. when executives get off track (= Andreas Gourmelon [Hrsg.]: Personnel management in the public sector . Volume 11 ). Rehm, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8073-0380-2 .
  • Marisa Adelman Carson, Linda Rhoades Shanock, Eric D. Heggestad, Ashley M. Andrew, S. Douglas Pugh, Matthew Walter: The Relationship Between Dysfunctional Interpersonal Tendencies, Derailment Potential Behavior, and Turnover . In: Journal of business and psychology . tape 27 , no. 3 , 2012, p. 291-304 , doi : 10.1007 / s10869-011-9239-0 (English).
  • Adrian Furnham: The Elephant In the Boardroom. The Causes of Leadership Derailment . Palgrave Macmillan UK, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-349-31092-0 (English).
  • Rabea Christiane Haag: Derailment among executives (=  Forum Consulting Science . Volume 2 ). Kassel University Press, Kassel 2016, ISBN 978-3-7376-0062-0 .
  • Thomas Kuhn, Jürgen Weibler : Management derailment and system derailment. The connection between two problems . In: Organizational Consulting, Supervision, Coaching . tape 23 , no. 2 , 2016, p. 133-146 , doi : 10.1007 / s11613-016-0456-2 .
  • Heidi Möller , Alessa Antonia Müller: Manager derailment . In: group, interaction, organization. Journal of Applied Organizational Psychology . tape 48 , no. 4 , 2017, ISSN  2366-6145 , p. 351–354 ( springer.com [accessed October 11, 2019]).
  • Fritz Westermann, G. Birkhan: Management Failure and Derailment . In: Werner Sarges (Hrsg.): Management Diagnostik . 4th edition. Hogrefe, Göttingen, Bern, Stockholm a. a. 2013, ISBN 978-3-8017-2385-9 , pp. 969 ff .
  • Manager failure and derailment . In: Fritz Westermann, Michael Dick (ed.): Business Psychology . tape 16 , no. 3 . Pabst Science Publ., 2014, ISSN  1615-7729 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Derailment  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Weibler , Thomas Kuhn: Management Derailment. When executives get off track. Series: Ethical Leadership. In: leadership-insiders.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Frans H. van Eemeren: Strategic maneuvering between rhetorical effectiveness and dialectical reasonableness . In: Henrique Jales Ribeiro (Ed.): Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Beginning of the XXIst Century . Coimbra 2009, p. 69.74 (English).
  3. ^ Francisca A. Snoeck Henkemans: Praeterito as strategic maneuvering . In: Henrique Jales Ribeiro (Ed.): Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Beginning of the XXIst Century . Coimbra 2009, p. 85 (English).
  4. ↑ a b Florian Wanoschek: 'Rational consensus expropriation ' and the role of distraction in argumentative dialogues. An argumentation-theoretical and rhetorical-pragmatic investigation using the example of the argumentum ad hominem . Zugl. Univ. Diss. (=  Studies in Linguistics . Volume 18 ). Lit, Berlin, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-643-11689-5 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Daniel-Pascal Zorn : The derailment tactics, part 1 . In: High air (= of course  ! No.  19 ). October 27, 2016, ZDB ID 2647790-7 ( hoheluft-magazin.de [accessed November 22, 2019]).
  6. ^ Scott F. Aikin, Robert B. Talisse : Why We Argue (And How We Should). A Guide to Political Disagreement in an Age of Unreason . 2nd Edition. Routledge, London 2019, ISBN 978-1-138-08741-5 , pp. 134-136 (English).
  7. ↑ Derailing in the Spreeblick blog. Comment derailment: All in white. Ralph Günther in conversation with Johnny Haeusler in the Green Stripes series . In: Deutschlandfunk Nova . September 9, 2015, accessed November 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Andreas Weck: Derailing in the net. How discussions are steered in a completely different direction. In: t3n. September 3, 2015, accessed December 2, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Daniel-Pascal Zorn: Philosophy as the art of justification . In: High air (= of course  ! No. 1 ). October 16, 2015, ZDB ID 2647790-7 ( hoheluft-magazin.de [accessed November 22, 2019]).
  10. ↑ a b Daniel-Pascal Zorn: The derailment tactics, part 2 . In: High air (= of course  ! No. 20 ). November 7, 2016, ZDB ID 2647790-7 ( hoheluft-magazin.de [accessed November 22, 2019]).
  11. ^ Morgan W. McCall, Michael M. Lombardo: Off the Track. Why and How Successful Executives Get Derailed (Technical Report / Center for Creative Leadership, No. 21) . Center for Creative Leadership, USA 1983, ISBN 0-912879-19-X , p. 1-3 (English).
  12. ^ Rainer Bäcker: Management Risks. Considerations for the derailment of executives . In: Organizational Consulting, Supervision, Coaching . tape 17 , no. 4 , 2010, ISSN  1618-808X , p. 389 ( google.de [accessed on December 1, 2019] quoted from Rabea Christiane Haag: Derailment bei Managers . Kassel 2016, p. 17).
  13. ^ Rainer Bäcker: Management Risks. Summary . doi : 10.1007 / s11613-010-0208-7 .
  14. ^ Rüdiger Hossiep , Olaf Ringelband: Psychopathic personality facets in top management. Personality traits and derailment risks of top managers . In: Business Psychology . tape  16 , no. 3 , 2014, ISSN  1615-7729 , p. 21–27 ( prof-michael-dick.de [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on November 21, 2019] special issue "Managerversagen / Derailment (MvD)").
  15. ^ Rüdiger Hossiep, Olaf Ringelband: Psychopathic personality facets in top management. Personality traits and derailment risks of top managers . In: Business Psychology . tape 16 , no. 3 , 2014, ISSN  1615-7729 , p. 21 ( prof-michael-dick.de [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on November 21, 2019] special issue "Managerversagen / Derailment (MvD)").
  16. ↑ Interview with Rüdiger Hossiep: Management derailment: Do we need an ethics check for managers?
  17. ↑ Business Psychology . Themenheft Manager failure / Derailment (MVD) . Volume 16, No. 3, 2014, ISSN 1615-7729 ([PDF; 3.6 MB; accessed on November 21, 2019]).
  18. ↑ Rabea Christiane Haag: Derailment among executives (=  Forum Advisory Science . Volume 2 ). Kassel University Press, Kassel 2016, ISBN 978-3-7376-0062-0 ( uni-kassel.de [accessed December 3, 2019]).
  19. ^ Kai Externbrink, Moritz Keil: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and Psychopathy in Organizations. Theories, methods and findings on the dark triad . With a foreword by Hans-Werner Bierhoff . Springer, Wiesbaden 2018, ISBN 978-3-658-17238-1 .
  20. ^ Kai Externbrink, Moritz Keil: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy in organizations: Theories, methods and findings on the dark triad. In: Researchgate. 2018, accessed December 3, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Kai Externbrink, Moritz Keil: The dark triad of personality. In: Researchgate. 2018, accessed December 3, 2019 .
  22. ^ Kai Externbrink, Moritz Keil: Gender differences. In: Researchgate. 2018, accessed December 3, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Heidi Möller , Alessa Antonia Müller: Manager Derailment . In: group, interaction, organization. Journal of Applied Organizational Psychology . tape  48 , no. 4 , 2017, ISSN  2366-6145 , p. 351–354 ( springer.com [accessed October 11, 2019]).
  24. ^ A b c Astrid Schreyögg : Derailment of executives. Editorial . In: Organizational Consulting, Supervision, Coaching . tape  23 , no. 2 , 2016, p. 115–117 ( springer.com [accessed December 2, 2019]).
  25. ↑ Christina Sobek: End of the line for a career. The derailment phenomenon. Interview with Damaris Sander and Burkhard Birkner . In: Personnel Management . No. 9 , 2012, ISSN  0723-3868 , p. 70–72 ( dgfp.de [PDF; 111 kB ; accessed on December 3, 2019]).
  26. ^ Thomas Kuhn, Jürgen Weibler : Management derailment and system derailment. The connection between two problems . In: Organizational Consulting, Supervision, Coaching . tape 23 , no. 2 , 2016, p. 133-146 , doi : 10.1007 / s11613-016-0456-2 (quotation from the abstract).
  27. ^ S. Einarsen, MS Aasland, A. Skogstad: Destructive leadership behavior. A definition and conceptual model . In: The Leadership Quarterly . tape 18 , 2007, p. 207–216 (English, google.de [accessed on December 2, 2019], quoted from Rabea Christiane Haag: Derailment bei Managers . Kassel 2016, p. 17).
  28. ↑ Simone Kauffeld (Ed.): Work, organizational and personal psychology for Bachelor . 2nd Edition. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-642-42064-1 ( springer.com [PDF; 291 kB ; accessed on December 2, 2019] quote).