Chris knew she worked for a controlling boss, but this took the cake. After she had collated 100 stacks of documents and fastened each stack with a paper clip, her boss walked in and told her to redo the entire job. "Use the colored paper clips instead," the boss said. "And put the clip closer to the left side of the paper."

Control freaks are everywhere, and usually, people on the receiving end just roll with it. It doesn't have to be that way. Consider the following:

-- Control freaks are rarely control-minded about everything. Some are obsessed with budget issues only. Others are perfectionists who want the margins in those letters exactly one inch on each side. Still others want to know what everyone is doing every minute of the workday. Think about your own control-freak colleague, and determine what activates his controlling nature.

-- In a very diplomatic way, get your colleague to question his controlling tendencies. For instance, if a project is getting underway and the controlling person wants to monitor who's doing what on a minute-by-minute basis, ask a few mind-opening questions: Why do we need to keep such close track of time? What has worked best with previous projects? What will work best for this project? Let the answers speak for themselves.

-- People who work for control freaks often go to their boss for permission or guidance every time they want to do something that's slightly beyond their usual set of tasks. If you find yourself operating in ask-the-boss mode, you know the result: It keeps the boss happy, but it stifles your creativity, growth, and sense of mission. What to do? Make a new habit of doing things without always getting the boss's signoff. Start small. If your controlling boss tries to pull you back, simply say, "You're so busy, I just didn't want to bother you with this." Try again if you have to, and build on the small successes.

-- Another response to the controlling boss is "drone mode" -- where the employee never tries anything different, opting to do the same work the same way, day in and day out, simply to keep the boss out of her hair. If you want something more, then re-engage your brain and start planning. What do you want to learn? How do you want to grow? Is there something new you could do -- or something you currently do that could be done differently and better? -- that would help you and your organization and its customers? Decide on one or two steps you can take and get going. In doing this, you might have to talk things over with your boss. Just be careful not to slip into ask-the-boss mode!