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By:

Rahul Kulkarni

30 March 2025 at 3:32:54 pm

The Boundary Collapse

When kindness becomes micromanagement It started with a simple leave request.   “Hey, can I take Friday off? Need a personal day,” Meera messaged Rohit. Rohit replied instantly:   “Of course. All good. Just stay reachable if anything urgent comes up.”   He meant it as reassurance. But the team didn’t hear reassurance. They heard a rule.   By noon, two things had shifted inside The Workshop:   Meera felt guilty for even asking. Everyone else quietly updated their mental handbook: Leave is...

The Boundary Collapse

When kindness becomes micromanagement It started with a simple leave request.   “Hey, can I take Friday off? Need a personal day,” Meera messaged Rohit. Rohit replied instantly:   “Of course. All good. Just stay reachable if anything urgent comes up.”   He meant it as reassurance. But the team didn’t hear reassurance. They heard a rule.   By noon, two things had shifted inside The Workshop:   Meera felt guilty for even asking. Everyone else quietly updated their mental handbook: Leave is allowed… but not really. This is boundary collapse… when a leader’s good intentions unintentionally blur the limits that protect autonomy and rest. When care quietly turns into control Founders rarely intend to micromanage.   What looks like control from the outside often starts as care from the inside. “Let me help before something breaks.” “Let me stay involved so we don’t lose time.” “Loop me in… I don’t want you stressed.” Supportive tone.   Good intentions.   But one invisible truth defines workplace psychology: When power says “optional,” it never feels optional.
So when a client requested a revision, Rohit gently pinged:   “If you’re free, could you take a look?” Of course she logged in.   Of course she handled it.   And by Monday, the cultural shift was complete: Leave = location change, not a boundary.   A founder’s instinct had quietly become a system. Pattern 1: The Generous Micromanager Modern micromanagement rarely looks aggressive. It looks thoughtful :   “Let me refine this so you’re not stuck.” “I’ll review it quickly.”   “Share drafts so we stay aligned.”   Leaders believe they’re being helpful. Teams hear:   “You don’t fully trust me.” “I should check with you before finishing anything.”   “My decisions aren’t final.” Gentle micromanagement shrinks ownership faster than harsh micromanagement ever did because people can’t challenge kindness. Pattern 2: Cultural conditioning around availability In many Indian workplaces, “time off” has an unspoken footnote: Be reachable. Just in case. No one says it directly.   No one pushes back openly.   The expectation survives through habit: Leave… but monitor messages. Rest… but don’t disconnect. Recover… but stay alert. Contrast this with a global team we worked with: A designer wrote,   “I’ll be off Friday, but available if needed.” Her manager replied:   “If you’re working on your off-day, we mismanaged the workload… not the boundary.”   One conversation.   Two cultural philosophies.   Two completely different emotional outcomes.   Pattern 3: The override reflex Every founder has a version of this reflex.   Whenever Rohit sensed risk, real or imagined, he stepped in: Rewriting copy.   Adjusting a design.   Rescoping a task.   Reframing an email. Always fast.   Always polite.   Always “just helping.” But each override delivered one message:   “Your autonomy is conditional.” You own decisions…   until the founder feels uneasy.   You take initiative…   until instinct replaces delegation.   No confrontation.   No drama.   Just quiet erosion of confidence.   The family-business amplification Boundary collapse becomes extreme in family-managed companies.   We worked with one firm where four family members… founder, spouse, father, cousin… all had informal authority. Everyone cared.   Everyone meant well.   But for employees, decision-making became a maze: Strategy approved by the founder.   Aesthetics by the spouse.   Finance by the father. Tone by the cousin.   They didn’t need leadership.   They needed clarity.   Good intentions without boundaries create internal anarchy. The global contrast A European product team offered a striking counterexample.   There, the founder rarely intervened mid-stream… not because of distance, but because of design:   “If you own the decision, you own the consequences.” Decision rights were clear.   Escalation paths were explicit.   Authority didn’t shift with mood or urgency. No late-night edits.   No surprise rewrites.   No “quick checks.”   No emotional overrides. As one designer put it:   “If my boss wants to intervene, he has to call a decision review. That friction protects my autonomy.” The result:   Faster execution, higher ownership and zero emotional whiplash. Boundaries weren’t personal.   They were structural .   That difference changes everything. Why boundary collapse is so costly Its damage is not dramatic.   It’s cumulative.   People stop resting → you get presence, not energy.   People stop taking initiative → decisions freeze.   People stop trusting empowerment → autonomy becomes theatre.   People start anticipating the boss → performance becomes emotional labour.   People burn out silently → not from work, but from vigilance.   Boundary collapse doesn’t create chaos.   It creates hyper-alertness, the heaviest tax on any team. The real paradox Leaders think they’re being supportive. Teams experience supervision.   Leaders assume boundaries are obvious. Teams see boundaries as fluid. Leaders think autonomy is granted. Teams act as though autonomy can be revoked at any moment. This is the Boundary Collapse → a misunderstanding born not from intent, but from the invisible weight of power. Micromanagement today rarely looks like anger.   More often,   it looks like kindness without limits. (Rahul Kulkarni is Co-founder at PPS Consulting. He patterns the human mechanics of scaling where workplace behavior quietly shapes business outcomes. Views personal.)

A wait of 27 years over

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Ranji Trophy Champions

Mumbai is considered as Capital of Indian Cricket, a cradle of Cricket in India its record in domestic cricket is enviable. The 42 times Ranji Trophy Champions and now 15 times Irani Cup winners! It retained Ranji Trophy between 1958-1973, which is a record. Double crown for Mumbai after a long wait of 27 years.


The Glorious History

Irani Cup match is played between Ranji Trophy Champions and the Rest of India team selected on the basis other teams best, talented players. It is an annual feature of BCCI Cricket Calendar. Zal Irani who was BBCI’s first Treasurer since its inception, later a Vice-President and President (1966-67) was honoured by having a Trophy presented in his name. It started in 1959-60 and was played at end of the season. After five years, it was shifted to the beginning of the next season. This Irani Cup tie gives valuable data about the form of current players

This season 2023-24 has been amazing for Mumbai Cricket. They regained the Ranji Trophy after a long gap. With most of their star players away on national duty representing India in WC and WTC matches they showed the class. The newly looked Mumbai Team played well under the Captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, a veteran Test stalwart.

Ajinkya led the side well though he didn't contribute much with the bat except in the final at Wankhede Stadium against Vidarbha. Ajinkya is always a captain cool. He is very shrewed with tactics. He led the bunch of talented youngsters which included Khan siblings Sarfraz and Musheer, Tanush Kotian (find of the season), pacer Awasthi, Tushar Deshpande (presently in UK for treatment), Shams Mulani, the crafty left arm spinner who along with Tanush Kotian plotted the downfall of opposition batters.


The Turning Point

In the Irani Cup match played on the red soiled Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in the first week of October Mulani bowled 40 overs and bagged 3 wickets but two main Rest of India batters, opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and Dhruv Jurel who stitched a partnership of 165 runs and frustrated the Mumbai team but Mulani exploiting the rough got Abhimanyu sweeping and catch was held by Tanush running in from short fine leg. Tanush then polished of ROI tail very swiftly. ROI lost last six wickets for just 23 runs. Both the tweakers bagged three wickets and Mumbai gained vital first innings lead of 121 runs.

Known for its batting Mumbai started badly in Irani Cup losing three wickets for 37 runs but skipper Ajinkya Rahane along with Shreyas Iyer and then with Double Centurion Sarfraz Khan put Mumbai innings back on track. Rock solid Batsman Sarfraz Khan scored unbeaten 222 runs which enabled Ranji Champions to reach 537 runs in 141 overs.


The New Hero

Real hero of this Irani Cup match was Tanush Kotian, an allrounder. The 26-year-old, a resident of Kannamwar Nagar, Vikhroli is a find of the season. His father Karunakaran Kotian is also a well-known name in Mumbai’s maidan cricket. Tanush also imbibed cricket from his father. He has progressed well making rapid strides in at national level.

A product of IES School, Dadar he is now the "Talk of the Town" by his exploits on field in Ranji Trophy tournament 2023-24. He got the Best Player Award for his eye catching all round performance. Last season, he scored a brilliant century and shared last wicket century record partnership with Tushar Deshpande, who also scored a maiden century.

"Bap se Beta Sawai"

Karuna is proud of his son’s performance. He wished his son should play in the IPL and Tanush did play in the IPL a solitary game for RR. Irani Trophy match performance 64, 114 not out, and 27-2-101-3 plus the spectacular catch to dismiss Abhimanyu Easwaran for 191 is noteworthy.

The Rising Star of Mumbai Cricket is marching towards further glory as new season of Ranji Trophy is beginning from October 11 with Mumbai the holders meeting Baroda. All eyes will be on Mumbai’s team performance in the opening encounter and the blue eyed boy Tanush.

Mumbai Cricket’s glorious achievement is the fruit of efforts taken by Ajinkya Rahane and his talented team members, coach Salvi, support staff, selectors and zealous band of Mumbai Cricket Associations officials.

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