NO SUCH THING Does micromanaging actually work?
Apr 29, 2026
Erik Baker, historian and author of Make Your Own Job, traces how corporate work and management styles evolved. He discusses how factory-era control met office life, why middle managers rose and fell, and when tight oversight boosts short-term output. Conversations also touch on remote-work surveillance, handling difficult bosses, and the real costs of micromanagement.
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Devan's Hands Off With Clear Expectations Approach
- Devan prefers to set people up, give tools, then check in later to avoid micromanaging.
- He describes telling overbearing managers to just leave notes while he does work so both aren't duplicating effort.
Strip Out Managers And Expect Leaders To Do Both Jobs
- From the 1970s companies cut middle managers to save costs and valorized heroic executives doing "real" work.
- Baker connects that shift to today’s expectation that leaders juggle product work and managerial duties without training.
Productivity Rises From Feeling Observed Not Just From Interventions
- Studies found productivity often rose when managers changed conditions because workers liked attention and the sense of a project.
- Baker says the Hawthorne‑style effects made engagement matter more than the exact intervention.
