I mean most middle managers, especially in white collar corporations are incredibly lazy. Not as lazy as the CEOs, but theyre allergic to doing actual work and so justify their position by sticking rheir nose in everywhere and interfering with the people actually getting shit done. It might be different in manufacturing where the lower level managers actually worked their way up, but id bet the higher up you go, the less the managers actually do/contribute to productivity. Culminating of course in the most pointless of positions, the CEO. The micromanagement and belittling isnt a sign they arent lazy, its more a symptom pf their laziness in that its their way of avoiding actually doing any work, and a desperate attempt to justify their existence.