If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. -commonly attributed to Antoine de Saint Exupéry
I saw this most recently in Neil deGrasse Tyson's testimony to Congress. I think it applies very broadly.
People aren't machines, and actually react very poorly to detailed mindless instructions. But give them a goal, a vision, something they believe in and think they can do, and you'll find that you only need to do minor direction to accomplish those goals.