Does micromanaging actually work?

Does micromanaging actually work?

From NO SUCH THING by iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope

April 29, 2026 · 1h 3m · Episode 62

About this episode

The episode explores whether micromanaging is a more productive work style compared to a free-range approach, featuring guest Erik Baker who discusses the history of corporate management.

This week’s topic came from a listener who asked if micromanaging is a more productive work-style than a more “free range” approach. We talk about our own work experiences, and answer a few other miscellaneous work questions about performance improvement plans (“PIPs”), handling an incompetent boss, office odors, and more. Our guest this week is Erik Baker , historian at Harvard, editor at The Drift , and author of Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America , who walks us through the history of the corporate work structure and evolution of management styles.  Check out our newsletter for links to research and more.   Fill out our NST listener survey here. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at  mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 EXCLUSIVE  NordVPN Deal ➼ http://www.nordvpn.com/nst   Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Manny, Noah, Devan

Guest: Erik Baker

Topics covered

  • micromanaging
  • work styles
  • corporate history
  • management styles
  • performance improvement
  • office culture

Keywords

  • micromanaging
  • work style
  • performance improvement plans
  • management history
  • office culture
  • Erik Baker

Sponsors

NordVPN

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard, The Drift

Books & works: Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America

More episodes of NO SUCH THING

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the NO SUCH THING podcast page.