Every child is in a hurry to grow up. When you ask them why, the answer almost always is “because I can do what I want when I’m grown up”

The desire for freedom to do what we want is one that stays with us all our lives. Many of us rightfully want this freedom at work as well.

To understand the desire for freedom at work, we dug deeper and asked people what they really meant when they talked about workplace freedom. Turns out, that when they talk about freedom at work, most people are essentially thinking about

• Safety in their teams to share their ideas and feedback openly
• Independence in their work to make relevant decisions without being micromanaged
• An environment to experiment, succeed or fail and learn from their mistakes without being unduly penalized for genuine mistakes

These are very real and achievable expectations of freedom at work. Any organization can offer this and many times, they already do. They just may not be talking about it in a way that appeals to their employees or potential hires.

Perhaps the time has come for organizations to start talking about freedom at work in real terms and what it means in their context.

Creating a culture where there is freedom at work, can move a company from a good to a great place to work very quickly!