Comments on: Micro Manage When You Must; Macro Manage Because You Can

By: Darla H.

Darla H. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:00:16 +0000

Can I add something about micro-managing?

In psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done.

It can also refer to someone with a limited number of things that they want done a specific way; professor of clinical psychology Les Parrott wrote that “Control Freaks are people who care more than you do about something and won’t stop at being pushy to get their way.”

In some cases, the control freak sees their constant intervention as beneficial or even necessary; this can be caused by feelings of superiority, believing that others are incapable of handling matters properly, or the fear that things will go wrong if they don’t attend to every detail.

In other cases, they may simply enjoy the feeling of power it gives them so much that they automatically try to gain control of everything around them.

Thanks

By: Bill Willard

Bill Willard — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:40:26 +0000

Allow me a Point of Privilege: This weekend, I emailed our son in Hawaii, asking him to style-check the Marine Corps portions of this Issue of the Week. He made a couple of suggestions, but when he noticed I’d included a courtesy reference to him as a prior-enlisted Marine Captain and Iraq vet, he asked me to remove it: “Dad, don’t put me up there with a Grunt officer; I’m an Intel pogue.

For the initiated, pogue is an offensive military slang term to describe non-infantry, non-combat soldiers, staff, and other rear-echelon or support units.

I told him I’d remove the reference, thinking how modest this accomplished man has always been and continues to be.

Semper Fi, Son. We love you.

By: Bill Willard

Bill Willard — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:04:40 +0000

Excellent observation, and so true, which is why be build detailed Learning Objectives and measurable Performance Standards into training curricula. But I’ll see your Hackworth, and raise you one:

“Training must not be controlled, but instead be completely free-play…in a simulated environment in which soldiers can discover for themselves that war is not a series of canned problems with a limited range of responses, but a human encounter where the unexpected always happens and flexibility in the key.”

That’s from Col. Hack’s bio, and has been framed on my office wall for many years!

Thanks for visiting TFE and for your Comment.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:39:23 +0000

Great piece.

In my observation and experience, “micro-management” is essential when training or teaching a new employee or someone new to a position or culture. After they understand what is needed and expected, turn them loose. One of my worst job experiences was being left on my own from day one, then six months later my boss could not understand why I did not do things exactly as he wanted me to.

A couple of quotes from David Hackworth (also a military man);
1)if you do not learn to do it right the first time, you will spend the rest of your life trying to learn how to do it right.”
2)What does not get checked by the boss does not get done.