There is a paradox at the heart of many struggling startups. The founder hires incredible, expensive talent because they need help. Then, that same founder hovers over the new hires, dictating every keystroke, correcting every email, and approving every minor decision. This is the trap of Micromanagement.
Micromanagement is a management style characterized by excessive control or attention to details. It is the inability to let go of the “how” in favor of the “what.”
For a founder, this behavior usually stems from a place of passion. You built this company from scratch. You know exactly how you want things done. However, what served you well as a solo operator becomes a lethal poison when you try to scale a team. If you require total control, you ensure that your company can never grow larger than your own personal bandwidth.
The Bottleneck Effect
#The most immediate impact of micromanagement is mathematical. It creates a bottleneck.
If every decision must pass through your desk, the speed of the entire organization is limited by your ability to read emails and attend meetings. You become the lid on the jar. Your engineers might be capable of shipping three features a week, but if they have to wait two days for you to review the UI, they will only ship one.
Founders often complain that their team is not moving fast enough. Often, the team is moving plenty fast. They are just waiting in line at the CEO’s door.
Instruction vs. Interference
#It is vital to distinguish between training and micromanaging. They can look similar, but the timing is different.
Training happens before the work begins. It is setting the standard, explaining the vision, and providing the resources. It is empowering.
Micromanagement happens during the work. It is interrupting the flow to correct minor details. It is changing the work after it is done without explaining why. It is debilitating.
A good leader sets the destination and the guardrails, then steps back. A micromanager sits in the passenger seat and grabs the steering wheel every time the car hits a bump.
The Talent Drain
#The long term cost of micromanagement is cultural. It acts as a filter that repels high performers and retains low performers.
“A-Players” crave autonomy. They want ownership of the outcome. If you micromanage an A-Player, they will feel suffocated and they will quit. They have options and they will exercise them.
“C-Players” love micromanagement. They do not want responsibility. They want to be told exactly what to do so they cannot be blamed if it goes wrong. If you micromanage, you will eventually wake up to find a team full of order takers who cannot think for themselves. You will have created a self fulfilling prophecy where you have to micromanage because no one else is capable of leading.
The Crisis Exception
#Are there times when micromanagement is appropriate? Yes, but they are rare.
If the building is on fire, you do not hold a committee meeting. You shout orders. If a specific department is failing catastrophically, you may need to dive in and micromanage it temporarily to fix the process.
The key word is temporary. You dive in to fix the system, not to become the system. Once the fire is out, you must hand back the controls.
The Founder’s Reflection
#If you suspect you are a micromanager, you need to ask yourself a hard question. Are you doing this because it adds value to the customer? Or are you doing it to manage your own anxiety?
Usually, it is the latter. Learning to trust your team with the details is the only way to free yourself to focus on the future.