Selective Micromanagement

Ravi Mehta has noticed that new managers often swing to one of two failure modes: they either micromanage everything, or they go completely hands-off because they're terrified of micromanaging.

His surprising advice? Micromanagement isn't always bad. In fact, the best leaders use what he calls 'selective micromanagement.'

'If you don't feel confident in the direction that your team is moving, the right answer is not to be hands-off and to let them go in that wrong direction. The right answer is to micromanage, but do it in a very tactical and a very temporary way.'

The key words: tactical and temporary.

You zoom in, get involved in the details, course correct, and then pull back. It's not permanent hovering - it's intentional intervention when things are going off course.

This is exactly how to think about parenting phases.

Sometimes your kid needs you to step back and let them figure it out. But sometimes - when they're learning something new, when they're struggling, when things are going sideways - the right move is to get more involved, not less.

The goal isn't 'never micromanage.' The goal is knowing when to zoom in and when to zoom out. Ravi says the ideal is 'scalable leadership' - confidence in direction, autonomy for your team. But you get there by being willing to micromanage selectively when needed.