Panic - Thy Word is Micro Manager
What motivates a Micro Manager. Simple.
Panic.
It’s all those details. The fact someone might see a mistake of theirs . . . or a mistake in their department . . . or that something related to their work is amiss.
Panic there is not enough time to do it all . . . correctly. (And when I mean correctly, correct in the sense of the Micro Manager’s perception)
Panic they may be wrong. Panic they have overlooked something.
It’s all about the panic.
And there’s the rub. If the Micro Manager stepped back, relaxed and took stock of the situation, they could see the path through the forest. One does not have to touch every tree to get through the black forest . . . just follow the path.
But the Micro Manager will jump into a wall of thickets a Scottish clansmen had ever had the pleasure of being caught a fortnight within.
Why?
Because it needs to managed. Even if it’s doing quite well, thank you very much.
And what happens when you get lost in the forest of details? Well, if your inclination is to organize the forest in an attempt manage your way out... you will end up panicking.
The urge not to panic is a Micro Manager’s worst nightmare. However, the very essence of panic is their life-blood – and they have no way of dealing with details and management without that sense of panic looking over their shoulder – even while they’re looking over the shoulder of one of their employees.
And here's the other rub... to alleviate their sense of panic, the Micro Manager will try to micro manage themselves out of their sense of panic.
Oh it's a vicious cycle . . . and that's what leads to the downward spiral until a Micro Manager is stuck . . . afraid to move in any direction. Then real Panic sets in!
I just hope beyond all hope you are not in the path of Micro Manager who is experiencing real and honest Panic.
Thanks
Dafydd
mibw@yahoo.com
Perfectionists and Micro Managers
Almost all Micro Managers share one common trait - Perfectionism. And like Cholesterol, there is good perfectionism along with bad.
Bad Perfectionism has a common trait that distinguishes this type from Good Perfectionism. It is the ingredient that makes perfectionism go sour. It is Control Freak.
A person with bad perfectionism is also a control freak. The two dance around together. Nothing separates them. The control freak has to control every aspect of the workplace. It drives them nuts if they can't control a workplace situation, no matter how tiny or insignificant.
Remember, the Micro Manager is trying to bring order out of the chaos of the perceived situation they are in. And they accomplish this with even more Micro Managing. Enter the Control Freak.
The control freak seeking a perfect little workplace seeks to control all problems. The problem is everything they see is a problem. . . Perfectionism! The control freak will take control of a workplace task even if they haven't the foggiest of what to do or how to do it. They get frustrated when they can't figure it out. (If they're lucky, their intelligent enough to realize this and pull back) But often the Control Freak's perfectionism kicks in preventing this.
Hence the downward spiral. . . and the inevitable compounding of mistake on mistake. A perfectionist in an attempt to control every nuance and task (micro manage) they often focus on the smallest tasks and are never able to pull away and see the bigger situation, the critical things that need doing. . . as a Perfectionist sees everything as critical.
One example is a manager who wanted several websites up and running. Not knowing how these things are done, she did the right thing and hired a professional to do the design. However, in walked the Control Freak, and quickly started to take over the project. Making unreasonable demands of the designer, such as complex and tricky page-layout using only basic HTML (so she could alter it later), or demanding that programs do tasks they were never designed to do. Eventually, she demanded literally 100's of changes to be implemented, but she wanted the websites up and perfect - immediately. Unrealistic expectations.
And then the anger develops, which feeds the control freak. The perfectionist wants everything done right and immediately. The Control Freak wants to do it themselves but does not know how. And the answer to all this is . . . you guessed it. Micro Manage even more.
These are the attributes of a Micro Manager. And why it always leads to chaos.
Thanks
Dafydd
mibw@yahoo.com
The Calling Card of a Micro Manager
Micro Managers. The scourge of the modern workplace. The calling card of a Micro Manager is their inability to get anything done. It belies the whole term of managing. The last thing a Micro Manager wants to do is manage.
They want all the work done by themselves. Every little detail has to be approved and monitored by the Micro Manager. And in many cases, they will shove previously done work by others aside to do it themsleves.
Hence they are always overworked, frazzled, grumpy, dissatisified, never happy, and constantly going over the same work, again, again, and again. Often oming back to the same spot that started the process.
They are always angry, suspicious that nothing is done right, and almost conspiratorial in their outlook regarding employees.
They DO find mistakes. But they can be the smallest of inconsistencies... but the Micro Manager is often the source of those mistakes.
And here's the kicker. A Micro Manager feels the only way to combat the details and workload (the chaos they created) is by doing even more Micro Managing.
It is a vicious cycle and it heads downward.
Thanks
Dafydd
mibw@yahoo.com
