tight ship

組織で部下を管理する立場の人には重要な示唆を含んでいると思われるお話です。

Managers looking to run a tight ship should be wary about keeping an overbearing eye on their employees.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that employees given a series of tasks were more likely to cheat despite being told they would be working under electronic surveillance than those who were not told they would be monitored.

The study, which looked at the behavior of 200 U.S.-based employees, noted that employees are either motivated by external factors such as the threat of punishment or the promise of reward, or by their internal moral compass.

After conducting the study, the authors concluded that when workers are monitored, they shift the responsibility of their actions onto the authority figure overseeing their surveillance rather than onto themselves and were more likely to act in a way that runs counter to their own moral standards.

(Sophie Mellor. Thinking about monitoring employees at work? Study shows they’re more likely to slack off, disregard your instructions and even steal office supplies. Fortune. July 4, 2022.)

部下という立場からすれば、管理されていると思うと反発したくなるものです。

つまり、行動を監視され、パフォーマンスを厳しく管理されると、自らを律して頑張ろうという気持ちが失せ、成果が上がらないのを管理のせいにする傾向が出てくるそうです。

"run a tight ship"という表現に注目しましょう。

慣用句として、

to control something such as an organization or institution in a very strict and effective way

(Macmillan Dictionary)

という意味で、これは厳しい管理を旨とする組織運営のことで、放任主義とは対局にあるもののようです。

"tight ship"の"tight"は、"loose"の対義語です。緩い、弛んでいる、という語に対して、締まっている、というのが"tight"の概念です。

チームを締めて行くのがリーダーの役割ですが、締め過ぎれば離反を招く、ということでしょう。