I want to tell you two stories from my career which I think are classic
illustrations of the difference between tech companies that are well-managed
and tech companies that are disasters. It comes down to the difference
between trusting employees and letting them get things done, versus treating
them like burger flippers that need to be monitored and controlled every
minute, lest they wander off and sabotage everything.

Joel Spolsky, "Two Stories"
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/TwoStories.html