Is it the company’s way, or just your way?

“Are we working to hit a high standard, or are we working to get his approval?”

Someone on a client’s team asked me that, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

I’ve seen this pattern at a lot of agencies. The founder drops into a project, asks for changes, and the result is... almost the same thing. Just done their way.

Nobody means harm by it. Founders usually got where they are by caring a lot about the work. But from the team’s side, it looks like this: you make a call, it gets changed. You make the next call, it gets changed. Eventually, you stop being opinionated and start guessing what the boss wants... instead of what the client wants.

One person put it perfectly: “I’m paid to be creative, but in practice I’m doubting myself the whole time.”

The question I give founders now is simple. Before you step in, ask: is this the company’s standard, or is it just my way?

If it’s the company’s way, great. Write it down. Make it a standard everyone can see, so the next person doesn’t need you to tell them.

If it’s just your way, let it go. You pay a lot of people to make these decisions so you don’t have to. Plus, the outcome probably isn’t worse. It’s just different from how you’d do it personally.

And here’s the bigger fix: if you’re a founder working at the right level, it should be almost impossible for you to micromanage. You should be far enough from the work that you don’t even get the chance.