matt higgins

Imagine, if you will, a racecar driver taking high-speed turns, side by side with his competition, with his attention fixated on the tires, head half out the window, looking for wobbles, feeling for vibrations, listening for odd noises; then focused on the engine via the gauges and any interruptions in the normal growl of the power plant; and then shifting his focus to the transmission, feeling and listening. Over and over, this racecar driver is focused on all the details, every aspect of the overall machine—all but the road ahead and the course they, as a team, are taking.

If the racecar driver tries to manage and control every detail, he will lose focus on what the man behind the wheel is paid to be focused on and will likely finish somewhere other than first and will just as likely crash.

As a manager, you manage a team. Your team is just like the components of the racecar and, if you’re a little slow on the uptake, you’re the driver. And, the message I’m driving at is don’t micromanage. You don’t need to turn a blind eye, but do your job and let others do the same.

Back to our imaginary driver for a second. Racecar drivers often react to errant vibrations and take corrective actions, but they don’t wait for vibrations. They don’t anticipate failure. They do just the opposite. They expect the different components to perform. If you don’t trust your tires, you have the wrong tires for the race. In the real world, if you honestly believe a person has to be micro managed, you have the wrong person for the job.