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How to Act Quickly Without Sacrificing Critical Thinking

Harvard Business Review

The result was that her team felt increasingly micromanaged and less engaged in their contributions. This helped her avoid micromanaging the team, and it freed up time for her to focus on the big picture. The busier he got, the more he slipped into tactical mode, in order to get things checked off his to-do list as quickly as possible.

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Steve Jobs and The Bobby Knight School of Leadership

Harvard Business Review

Jobs would make decisive decisions on large and small issues and again and again would be proved right by the market or technology. Both were perfectionists and micromanagers. They did not stop at strategy but got into tactics at a very micro level. They were incredibly knowledgeable and insightful.

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Why Agile Goes Awry — and How to Fix It

Harvard Business Review

Agile processes go awry, because as companies strive for high performance, they either become too tactical (focusing too much on process and micromanagement) or too adaptive (avoiding long-term goals, timelines, or cross-functional collaboration). The key is balancing both tactical and adaptive performance.