Proactivity
Proactivity (adj. Proactive ) is a neologism resulting from the adoption of the English term "Proactivity" . Etymologically, the word is a combination of the Greek prefix pro (before) and the Latin root activus (active). Proactive action describes predictive action as a positively connoted antonym to reactive action.
meaning
According to Duden , proactive means "through differentiated advance planning and targeted action, the development of an event self-determining and creating a situation". The Fremdwort-Duden has been using the word since the 3rd edition in 2003. Proactivity describes initiative action - in contrast to waiting or reacting action - and also includes a special affirmation of action as an inner attitude.
While activity is not necessarily planned (e.g. in the form of blind actionism), proactive action requires advance planning and expectations.
In the Anglo-Saxon language area , the term - coming from the field of management - is much more widespread, but only since the turn of the millennium.
Use in specialist literature
In the German-speaking world, the term proactivity was introduced in 1946 by Viktor E. Frankl in a psychological context. The word there describes the conscious control of one's own behavior independently of external influences by breaking the scheme of stimulus and the subsequent reaction.
The term found widespread use through the self-discovery bestseller 7 Paths to Effectiveness ( The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , 1989) by the American writer Stephen R. Covey .
The term is also often found in economic literature or management literature, in German a. a. in Christian Scholz, Personalmanagement, 1989, p. 13. Scholz defines: "Proactivity means early action, even before the environment forces the company to take (reactive) measures." Later, Scholz expanded the term in the sense of a scenario technique to "early and differentiated preparation for at least two different environmental constellations or conscious shaping of selected strategic facts in one direction ”(Personalmanagement, 5th edition 2000).
For other authors, the term as understood in this way loses its distinctiveness and describes a situation that can also be generally translated with the term planning . This is how Wolfgang H. Staehle understands the term proactivity: Planning precisely means the early preparation for anticipated environmental constellations, which proactivity claims for itself.
Use in everyday life
- In job advertisements , applicants are expected to proactively “act”, “react”, “act”, “recognize”, “inform”, “solve problems” and “seek solutions”. The same verbs were linked in the same way with aktiv until the end of the 2000s .
- The advertising works u. a. with people of advanced age who appear surprisingly young and fresh because they are diligent and proactive in doing something for their health and physical performance, as opposed to merely symptomatic treatment of diseases that have already occurred.
Web links
- Satirical contribution by Wolfram Eilenberger : Distance to madness. Word trumpet: Proactive waiting for Godot . In: Cicero - magazine for political culture . Link to the text ( Memento from December 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ duden.de - Proactive entry , accessed on February 26, 2016, static link
- ^ Olev Verwaltungslexikon, Definitions Reactive - Active - Proactive
- ^ Wolfgang H. Staehle: Management. A behavioral perspective . Vahlen, Munich, 7th edition 1994, p. 575.
- ^ Leipziger Vocabulary , query on April 11, 2016.
- ^ Leipziger Vocabulary, query on July 1, 2008.