Short answer

Doubt and excessive control are often two responses to the same experience: uncertainty perceived as danger. Doubt tries to remove it through one more check; control, by keeping everything in your own hands. Both bring temporary relief and demand ever more energy.

Key points

  • The common base is intolerance of uncertainty in specific situations.
  • Doubt delays decisions; control prevents delegation.
  • The work targets the interpretation that turns uncertainty into a threat.

How it looks

A leader re-checks the team’s work, postpones a decision until there is “complete information” and is exhausted by everything resting on them. From outside it looks like responsibility. From inside, like constant tension.

What may sit beneath it

Often an interpretation such as “a mistake is unacceptable” or “if not me, then no one”. It may once have been useful. Now it consumes the resources needed for growth.

Questions