Bosses like to issue vague decrees and demands with little clarity and articulation. 

This paradigm allows them to decide later how to react: anger at your failure to intuit the invisible or grudging acceptance when you magically do. A dominance play keeps you reliant on their mood with no fixed rubric for success, which comes at the high cost of repeated check-ins and edits, increasing frustration on both sides. 

Yet, bosses are often unable to give up control and shirk the hard work upfront, making them the sloppy architect of their sabotage.