Autonomy In Your Work

February 19, 2010  | 

When it comes to our work, wouldn’t we all be happier and more motivated if we were given the freedom to chose what we do, how we do it, when we do it and who we work with? What does having autonomy at work mean to you and where’s the sweet spot?

autonomy

Special thanks to Daniel Pink for inspiring me to doodle this in my moleskin this morning. I’m half way through his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and the “4 T’s” he discusses in the context of autonomy has got my brain buzzing. I thought the sketch I did was worth translating to powerpoint for a discssion this morning.

This makes me wonder if the desire to get to that red dot sweet spot is the very essence of what drives people to become entrepreneurs.  What do you think?

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  • This is so, so true. Even having some semblance of control over just one of these factors can make a huge difference in your happiness, motivation etc. If you're lucky enough to either control or be happy with your situation on 2 or more, then I think life is pretty peachy.

    I actually personally enjoy some restrictions on some of these (occasionally), because improvising and coming up with alternate solutions is something I enjoy; but it definitely has its limits.

    I wonder if this actually points to some core selfishness of people (and desire for control), and if so, is that a necessarily good/bad thing?

    PS: Had to reload/re-post this because it didn't go through for some reason.
  • I'm not sure if it's about core selfishness...I think you're definitely right, though, that its about our need/desire to direct our own lives. Having a sense of control surely has a direct impact on your happiness and feeling of well-being.
  • Christine Piatek
    I actually now have a position where i have control over several of these aspects and it makes all the difference!
  • That's awesome. Where are you these days?
  • Re: Your PS...maybe I should start using Intense Debate? ;-)
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