You may want to look into the area of semiotics, ecology, and philsophy of the self. While it may initially seem odd to speak of "intention" and "control" when talking about bacteria, or plants, etc. But there is definitely a way of understanding these things which makes sense of these terms. Basically, the guide (that control the) of evolution is a process which is in a relationship with the environment where each contributes and as time advances something is produced (change). Many of the processes, for example bacteria, work on what amounts to an information processing organization. The information are "affordances", which are relationships between an organism, loosely defined, and the environment as it relates to abilities of the organism. So, for instance, a snake has the ability to slither, and is situated in an environment such that at a given moment the snake is aware that (or concious of) it's ability to slither forward, and perhaps chooses to do so. At a simpler level, bacteria operate similarly. Taking in the information afforded by the environment, and making responses.
In any case, the area of ecology in philosophy and semiotic approaches to "the self" might interest you. Plenty of authors have said it far better than I can here!