Contribution of Transactional Analysis and the Emotional Intelligence Theory to CRM

1. CRM (Crew Resource Management) and Related Basic Concepts

1.1. Concept of Crew in Aviation

CRM includes everyone who contributed to the successful realization of a flight into the crew concept. Therefore, the crew who is responsible for flying a plane and each individual who supports the flight is a member of the crew formed in order to perform a flight mission in aviation (Terzioğlu, 2007: p. 10). Therefore, in the performance of a flight mission; except the pilots, there are other crew members on board and there are air traffic controllers, tower staff, radar controllers, maintenance crews, flight officers, health teams and families who directly or indirectly effect the success of a flight mission and asist the pilots before flight, during flight and after flight who are all part of the crew in aviation (Terzioğlu, 2007: p. 10).

1.2. What is CRM?

CRM (Crew Resource Management) aims to increase the safety and efficiency of a flight mission by minimizing errors with the highest crew co-ordination and optimal risk management, in other words, improving the team performance by understanding the human factor better and preventing aircraft accidents and incidents (Terzioğlu, 2010: p.219).

CRM means that the flight mission is carried out by the entire crew supporting the flight rather than the well-trained two pilots. It expresses the effective use of all available resources, including equipment, procedures and human to accomplish flight missions, and the pilot decisions implemented by multiple flight personnel in a safe and effective manner (Terzioğlu, 2007: p. 100).

1.3. The Anatomy of CRM

CRM culture, which is built on the technical and non-technical concepts of Situational Awareness, Communication, Team Management, Leadership, Work Load Management, Decision Making, Stress Management, and Application of Procedures, considers “safety” first and basically contributes to the success of the following concepts:

1. Achieving goals                 4. Effective management

2. Protection of resources          5. Recognizing errors

3. Activity in education               6. Organizational culture

All of the 6 subdivisions of these 8 main areas are the areas of development of the basic components of emotional and social intelligence, but are in direct relation with the ego states, drivers and transactions that constitute the backbone of the Transactional Analysis.

In an effective CRM application, these 8 basic and 6 main objectives must be meticulously managed. The CRM trainings, which are applied in a mandatory way to strengthen the CRM muscle, are carried out by focusing on effectiveness in communication, cooperative communication, briefing / debriefing, situational awareness, relationship management, decision-making and leadership, human factor, fatigue and stress.

2. Emotional and Social Intelligence

The concept of emotional intelligence, referred to as the abbreviation of EQ at the present time, has begun to be developed in the early 1980s by the Israeli psychologist Reuven Bar-On and described as “A person's ability to succeed in dealing with environmental pressures and wishes; a combination of emotional personal and social skills” (Møller, 2000, p.  218).

Peter Salovey and John Mayer, in 1990, explained Emotional Intelligence as: “One’s ability to reflect their or other’s feelings and emotions, to distinguish them and to use this knowledge in the person's thought and action.” (Moller, 2000, p. 219). According to Salovey and Mayer emotional intelligence is the ability of the individual to observe the emotions and excitement of oneself and others and the ability to use this knowledge with the differences between them to guide one’s own thinking and behavior system.

In Daniel Goleman book “Emotional Intelligence” published at 1995, he describes emotional intelligence as “The ability to understand one’s own feelings, to empathize with the feelings of others and to organize their emotions to enrich their lives.” setting out from Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences that includes the capacities expressed as intrapersonal (being aware of one’s emotions, goals and motives) and inter-personal (being aware of others’ emotions, goals and motives). In his later works, Goleman classified the components that are related to one’s self personally as emotional intelligence, and components related to interpersonal relations as social intelligence.

The concept which is seen important for success and used to describe emotional qualities such as “Empathy, expressing and understanding emotions, controlling temperament, independence, adaptability, appreciation, solving interpersonal problems, perseverance, kindness, respect…” become famous hardly in 1995 with journalist-writer Daniel Goleman’s, who has a psychology field doctorate, book called “Emotional Intelligence’s” publication (Goleman & Daniel, 1995; Beceren, 2012: p. 60). As it is seen all of these concepts are at the center of CRM.

2.1. Emotion Concept

Emotion as the main topic of Emotional Intelligence is defined by Daniel Goleman as:

A feeling,

Specific thoughts specific to this feeling,

Psychological and biological states,

A set of tendency to behave…

Hence, emotion is an impulse and is directly related to all competences that are at the center of CRM, especially focus. It affects our psychological and biological states and it is affected by them. It moves with our world of thoughts. For example, fatigue, which is much struggled in aviation, confounds our emotion world. Fatigue roughly and easily triggers senses of unhappiness and anger. In the same way, not being happy can cause fatigue to be felt more strongly. These situations include decision-making, intra-team communication, error management, etc. it makes it important for situations that are vital and damages the safety culture. Besides, emotions are contagious. Especially in the case of CRM, this transmission is extremely vital. Swedish researcher Ulf Dimberg found that when people looked at a smiley or angry face, through minor changes in their facial muscles, they showed signs of the same mood in their own face. When people interact, the state of mood, which we can call the state of emotion, is transfers from strong expression of emotions to the more passive expressions (Açıkel, 2004: p. 38).

Our emotions are perhaps the greatest source of unity for the whole human world. Clearly, different religions, cultures and political beliefs can divide people. On the other hand, our emotions are universal. Charles Darwin mentioned this in his little-known book many years ago: “Expression of Emotion in Humans and Animals”. Moving emotions such as empathy, cooperation and forgiveness are potential to unify human beings. In short, we can say: When beliefs divide us, emotions connect us (Beceren, 2012: p. 55).

2.2. The Relationship of Emotional and Social Intelligence Components to CRM Fields

The components of Emotional and Social Intelligence are categorized in Daniel Goleman's book “Emotional Intelligence at Work” as follows:

2.2.1. Personal Competence

These qualifications determine the way we manage ourselves.

Self-Awareness: To know their own interior, preferences, resources and intuition.

• Emotional consciousness: Recognizing your feelings and the effects of these emotions.

• Accurate Self-Assessment: Knowing your own strengths and limits.

• Self-Esteem:  Strong sense of your own value and abilities.

Self-directedness: Managing their internal state, instincts and resources.

• Self-control: Keeping destructive feelings and impulses under control.

• Reliability: Maintain standards of integrity and honesty.

• Conscientiousness: Taking responsibility for personal actions.

• Compatibility: Flexibility in the face of change.

• Innovativeness: To be open to new ideas, approaches and new information.

Motivation: Emotional tendencies that provide or facilitate the achievement of goals.

• The urge to achieve: A quest to capture or upgrade a standard of excellence.

• Commitment: Adopting the objectives of the group or organization.

• Initiative: Ready to take action when the opportunity arises.

• Optimism: Insisting on achieving targets despite obstacles and defeats.

2.2.2. Social Competence

These qualifications determine the way we deal with relationships.

Empathy: To understand the feelings, needs and concerns of others.

• Understanding others: Sensing the feelings and perspectives of others and dealing effectively with their problems

• Including others: To understand the development needs of others and to reinforce their capabilities.

• Being oriented towards the service: To see, accept and meet the needs of the others

• Taking advantage of diversity: Using opportunities through people of different kinds.

• Political consciousness: To read the emotional movements and power relations of a group.

Ø  Social Skills: To be a master in awakening the desired reactions in others.

• Impact: To create a domain by using persuasion tactics.

• Communication: To listen clearly and send convincing messages.

• Conflict management: To resolve and settle the disputes.

• Leadership: To inspire and guide individuals and groups.

• Change catalyst: To initiate or manage change.

• Creating a rapport: Developing relationships that can serve the purpose.

• Collective work and cooperation: Working with others in line with common goals.

• Team competencies: Creating group synergy while following collective goals.

(Working With Emotional Intelligence, Daniel-Goleman, Bantam, Books, 1999.)

2.2.3. Panoramic CRM Areas

The mind map below shows the path we follow in fictional trainings to develop CRM areas.

From a bird's eye view of these areas with the help of the figure, it is clear that all non-technical areas are directly related to the development of the components of emotional and social intelligence. Therefore, it is essential to make CRM effective and productive in every step of CRM, in the way of Emotional Intelligence development and development with structured educational programs.         

3. Transactional Analysis

The basic concepts of Transactional Analysis-TA (Mutual Interaction or Interactional Analysis) developed by Psychologist Eric Berne between 1949 and 1958 were first discussed in the therapeutic context. This approach, which aims to achieve autonomy and change while providing personal change, offers methods both as a theory of personality and as a theory of communication. The TA was later adopted by educational scientists to help teachers and students communicate openly and avoid vicious disagreements. The TA analyzes are mainly divided into 2 separate areas as structural and functional analyzes. Observable behaviors are classified in the functional model while the stored memories and strategies are classified in the structural model.

The aim of the CRM trainings carried out with the TA teaching is to put the principle of autonomy on the center when the individuals analyze the ego states that are composed of a set of thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to each other and the transactions that occur when these ego states are on the stage. Thus, individuals can identify their own road maps for each CRM component.

3.1.  Philosophy of Transactional Analysis

The philosophy of Transactional Analysis is explained by two psychologists who are working on this issue:

I’m Ok, You're OK -Thomas Harris approach

Unconditional Positive Regard - Carl Rogers approach

Based on these assumptions, two basic principles of TA are emerging (Stewart & Joiness, 2015: p.41):

• Contract Management

• Open Communication

Contract management refers to joint responsibility. This corresponds to the CRM and CRM trainings, where all parties to CRM take responsibility. Open communication, on the other hand, implies that all parties should communicate clearly in order to achieve an equal role in support of the assumption that people are OK in every way.

The basic belief of “I’m OK You’re OK” requires mutual respect, and appreciation of the experience and skills of the parties. As an example, according to the TA theory, co-pilots are not there to obey an “expert” captain. They are respectable individuals who will work with the captain to develop a broader range of options.

3.2. Concepts of Transactional Analysis and CRM

There are basic considerations that form the basis of TA theory. Some of these that can be considered as having a large impact on CRM are listed below.

3.2.1. Ego States Model (PAC- Parent, Adult, Child)

An ego state is a set of interrelated thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We exhibit a certain part of our personality at a certain time with our ego states (Stewart & Joiness, 2015: p. 41). Our internal ego states are like our “organs” in which we accumulate our experience and make sense of the world. And our behavioral ego states are a way to make our operation in world visible (Hay, 2009 p. 16).

3 seperate ego states were determined in PAC model; according to Bern, Adult Ego State is an indication of we are here and now. At this ego state we process the information in a rational way and then decide how to behave. Bern defined both Parent and Child Ego States as archaic. In Parent Ego State we repeat the emotions, thoughts and/or behaviors we learned from someone in our past. In Child Ego State we repeat some emotions, thoughts and/or behaviors that we have experienced in our past (Hay, 2009, p. 63). In summary, our child self forms our emotions, our parent self forms our beliefs, and our adult self is our rational side that processes the information collected from these two selves.

Figure 2.

EGO STATE	POSITIVE (PROPER) USE (+)	NEGATIVE (EXTREME) USE (-)
CRITICAL PARENT	-Sets the rules and limits. -Protects from danger. -Resolves the hunger of the configuration.	-Can be accusive and cruel. -Can create fear. -Does not accept mistakes.
SUPPORTIVE PARENT	-Supports and allows. -Helps healthy, gives safety. -Encourages and appreciates.	-Can block improvement. -Fake help can damage the trust. -Can create dependent relationship.
ADULT	-Gives and takes information. -Acts rational and realistic. -Acts objectively.	-Can be boring and uncolourful. -Can overlook the emotions. -Can be difficulty in relationships.
ADAPTED CHILD	-Kind and compatible. -Controls his emotions. -Obeys by the rules.	-Does not take responsibility. -Can not say no. -Continues need for help can be tiring.
REBELLIOUS CHILD	-It is good to oppose in appropriate situations. -Has the skill to say no. -Can cause situation to be questioned.	-Opposes just to be opposing. -Can make others angry. -Can experience relationship problems.
FREE CHILD	-Natural and sincere. -Creative and curious. -High energy.	-May not recognize the rules. -Can be selfish. -Limitlessness can create danger.

3.2.2. Transactions 

According to Berne, transaction is the basic unit of social communication. Communication between people is formed by the chains of transactions. TA is the process of understanding which ego state of a person interacts with the which ego state other person's

Berne defined 3 kinds of transactions and three protocols about transactions. Complementary (paralel) and Crossed Transactions are only analyzed at the behavioral level. While Ulterior Transactions carry hidden information on the psychological level (Hay, 2009, p. 75).

For Example;

As long as the transactions are complementary, communication can last forever.

A.     Have you checked the SOP? (Adult)

B.     Yes, I checked last night. (Adult)

When transactions are crossed, communication does not continue unless one or both parties communicate again by changing their ego states.

A.     Have you checked the SOP? (Adult)

B.     You are always controlling me. (Child)

The behavioral outcome of an ulterior transaction is determined by the psychological level, not the social level. Ulterior transaction is the basis of non-functional communication. It transmits messages that are inconsistent in itself.

A.     Have you checked the SOP? (I am not sure if you came with reading and studying)

B.     No, I didn’t!? (Are you joking with me?)

3.2.3. Working Styles (Drivers)

The primary work on drivers was made by Taibi Kahler. It refers to the compulsive behaviors that express five characteristic styles over the years and they are present in each of us. There is no superiority of any other.

• Hurry Up

• Be Perfect

• Please Others

• Try Hard

• Be Strong

Drivers are our subconscious initiatives that allow us to act in a way that meets the need for recognition by others. It is also our reaction to the messages placed in our minds by important people in the past.

Our working style affects everything -- to organize our business, to manage our time, to live with others, our contribution in the team, our communication style and even our sentence structures- we do (Hay, 2009 p. 95).

Various combinations of working styles create different effects on relationships. The similarity and difference of the drivers of the individuals who make up the team can create positive and negative outcomes. This is the most crucial point in terms of CRM. For example; Try Hard wonders why Be Strong is not ever enthusiastic. Please Others hopelessly tries to read Try Hard’s mind, so that he can please him. Be Perfect feels disappointment because of Try Hard’s  tendency to quit duties unfinished. It is possible to solve this situation with the TA’s philosophy of everyone is OK. Thanks to intention of respect and cooperation; Hurry Up driver can remind the need of hurrying to Be Perfect who has the risk of missing the deadline. He also can suggest Be Strong to ask for help in order to gain time. Be Perfect Driver can stop Hurry Up from hurrying and prevent a big mistake from happening; encourages Try Hard to finish what he started. Please Others Driver prevents Hurry Up driver to pull everyone into a rushed decision. Try Hard provides the liveliness that Be Perfect does not; encourages Hurry Up to think of more options and answers enthusiastically to the unstable opinions of Please Others. Be Strong highlights the need of the completion of routine works that Try Hard has a tendency to overlook. He invites Please Others to be less anxious, and Hurry Up to be less excited.

3.2.4. Life Positions and Our Perspective on World

According to the Transactional Analysis approach, four basic expressions reflect one's own beliefs about himself and others:

• Ø  I’m OK, You’re/They’re OK

• Ø  I’m not OK, You’re/They’re OK

• Ø  I’m OK, You’re/They’re not OK

• Ø  I’m not OK, You’re/They’re not OK

These positions show the self-worth on which the person is based on this perception when they perceive themselves and others. I am OK, You’re/They’re OK position gives us comfort and provides better living with people. This position, especially in the case of CRM allows our attitudes, decisions and stress management to evolve in a positive way.

3.2.5. Psychological Games and Racket Emotions

Repetitive and unsatisfactory interactions in life are called psychological games. The typical features of these games, besides being repeated, are that they occur outside of adult awareness. The players of the game often communicate with ulterior transactions. And every game results in the racket emotions caused by confusion. Racket emotions can be described as a feeling that is familiar to us, learned and encouraged in childhood, experienced in many different situations and not helping adults to solve the problem. The racket can be defined as a series of fictitious behaviors that are used inadvertently and lead to a person's manipulation of the environment, leading to a sense of racket (Stewart & Joiness, 2015: p. 307).

We feel authentic (real) feelings when we do not practice censorship because of games. Anger, sadness, fear and satisfaction are classified as authentic emotions. A man who has spent his childhood with “Men don’t cry” paradigm is a typical example of a racket and a racket emotion.

This approach of TA indicates the areas that can be overcome by the teachings of emotional intelligence. In the same way, Transactional Analysis offers unique methods that can help control the thoughts that give rise to and nourish emotions, that is, the regulation of inner voices, so that the fictions and psychological game scenarios in the mind can be controlled.

3.3. The Concepts of Transactional Analysis and CRM

Transactional Analysis helps CRM centered concepts presented in the figure to be developed.

Figure 3

SUBJECTS	TA CONCEPTS
Relationships, Communication	Working Styles / Drivers, Ego States, Transactions
Attitudes	Life Positions / Our Perspective of World
Stress	Racket System, Working Styles / Drivers
Situational Awareness	Ego States, Working Styles / Drivers
Problem Solving, Decision Making	Areas of Success Working Styles / Drivers, Ego States
Kararlılık	Racket System, Working Styles / Drivers
Teamwork, Collaboration	Psychological Games, Drivers, Ego States
Motivation	Working Styles / Drivers
Leadership	Personality Adaptations, Working Styles, Transactions

For this reason, it is preferable to have basic knowledge about Transactional Analysis of all levels of CRM and to support the process by aviation psychologists.

4. Case Study Analysis

“…After a short silence, the operator's sinister voice was heard;

‘According to the latest weather report, heavy snowfall continues in Moscow Airport. Braking was measured as weak in all three areas from the beginning to the end of the runway. The sight distance is zero and the square is closed for landing and take off.’

The worst is, the situation was the same in the other squares in the Moscow region.

Now a complete panic has taken over the entire cockpit. Two hundred and twenty-five passengers and the fate of the crew depended on their decision. A rock was sitting on the pilots' throats and no one could speak. While the captain was puzzled by what he was going to do, he suddenly was horrified and began to sweat and shake. Extreme fear of the abnormal situation affected the pilots.        Surprise and Startle Effect

During this time, controlled mental activity was impossible and the pilots seemed to have lost themselves. The first one to leave this spiral was the pilot captain in charge. He started to curses, charging the other captain and the pilot the wrong way.           Psychological Games –  Drama Triangle – Accusatory, I’m Ok, You’re not Ok.

He was saying “What the heck do you do ?! You can't even get a descent!” and continuing his redundant words.

At that moment, this captain, who was sitting in the observer’s chair, was insisting that they had to turn from the closest place to the ground and land at any price. It was no different than a murder. A decision made in this way was definitely an accident or a demolition or even death. The captain was shouting at his decision. The two captains, who did not trust each other, turned out to be loud and distorted. The captain who was in command at the time ordered that the decision was wrong and that the captain should leave the cockpit immediately. When the other captain, who was not already getting along with the other captaion at the time, started to respond with the same expressions, the fight grew and even punched.                    

As a result of Crossed Transaction from Parent to Child both parties transaction to Child Ego and Conflict

The most junior secondary pilot intervened to the situation; said “Pull yourselves together. What are you doing? You will kill everyone” and ended the fight.      

Parent Ego who eases the conflict of Child Ego and the Savior from Drama Triangle.

Between this noisy clamor, the plane continued to fly under the control of the second pilot. He even had asked for radar assistance for the Kiev Airport, had made his decision and aired southward. He knew; it would be a miracle that the fuel was enough to get there and that the plane descends smoothly. Until that moment, he was making all the fuel calculations himself and reporting to the captain. However, a decision had to be made and applied correctly or incorrectly. Because indecisiveness was worse than the worst decision.        

Adult Ego is on which strengthens the muscles of Situational Awareness, Decision Making.

According to recent calculations, the engines would stop about six minutes from the runway. This distance did not meet the gliding distance of the stopped motors. The excited voice of the second pilot, who could think more easily than the others, was perceived as an expression of relief and salvation in the cockpit: ‘Captain, I see a runway on the right.’

The captain made a brief announcement to the passengers after the passing of Moscow Airport and did not even think about making any other announcements. There was no time because of fighting. It was also left to the cabin crew to inform the passenger and to appease them with a good explanation. Captain’s announcement of ‘Cabin crew, please go to your landing positions!’ calmed the passengers, but this calmness was short and the descent of the plane scared the passengers. With this fear none made any sound. The cabin chief captain heard pilots shouting and fighting in the cockpit from the front door. As he witnessed the fuss and shouting in the cockpit, he could not ask the captains nor tried to get information. Chief noticed something was wrong, but he preferred to be quiet. .”(Koşcağız, 2017: p. 16-20)             

Child Ego, I’m not OK, You’re not OK, Please Others Driver

When we evaluate it in the perspective of Emotional and Social Intelligence, it is seen that the captains, who are the parties to this story, are open to development or even weak in almost all of the Personal and Social Qualifications subjects mentioned in 2.2.1 and 2.2.2. It can be said that the second pilot, who prevented accidental breakdown by staying calm throughout the story, has greatly improved his emotional and social competences. The second pilot succeeded in staying in the adult self by manipulating the information from his emotions, thus mobilizing the problem-solving equipment.

The captains who set their emotions loose instead of managing, that is, the lack of self-control component of emotional intelligence, rapidly turned away from the problem-solving adult self, transformed into critical parents with the impulse of the child self, and the resulting transactions and ego war escalated the conflict. Not only do they cause serious damage to the CRM in the cockpit, but it has also caused a complete broken communication with the cabin.

Result

Non-technical components;

• Situational Awareness

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Leadership

• Workload and Fatigue Management

• Decision Making

• Stress Management

CRM is a vital concept that greatly reduces / prevents accidents. These components are especially the main fields of work of the Emotional and Social Intelligence Theory, and the sub-fractions touch upon the findings and suggestions revealed by the Transactional Analysis.

The common denominator of Emotional Intelligence theory and Transactional Analysis Approach; both are the principle of development. The common denominator of the Emotional Intelligence theory and the Transactional Analysis Approach is that they both have the principle of improvement. It can be said that the teams, which can be described as Emotional Intelligent, will be automatically qualified for CRM. Emotional Transactional Analysis, which offers extremely simple and effective solutions for the discovery, control and re-design of our world, can be considered as a unique approach that makes this qualification permanent.

References

• ClausMøller,,Hearthwork, TMI: Hillerød, 2000

• Eray Beceren, Duygusal ve Sosyal Zekâmız, İstanbul: Postiga, 2012

• IanStewart, VannJoines, Günümüzde TA, İstanbul: Eksi Kitaplar, 2017

• Julia Hay, Eğitmenler İçin Transaksiyonel Analiz, İstanbul: Nobel, 2009

• Murat Terzioğlu, Ekip Kaynak Yönetimi, İstanbul: Cinius - Çağdaş Türk Yazarları Dizisi, 2010

• Murat Terzioğlu, Uçak Kazalarının Nedeni Olarak İnsan Hatalarını Azaltmada Ekip Kaynak Yönetimi (Master’s Thesis, 2007)

• Yıldırım Açıkel, Duygusal Zekânın Askeri Uçuş Eğitiminin Başarısına Etkisi ve Uçuş Eğitimi Alan Pilot Adayları Üzerinde Bu Etkiyi Ölçen Bir Araştırma (Master’s Thesis, 2004)

• Adnan Koşcağız, Kokpitteki Sır, İstanbul:Dante Yayınları, 2017