Freedom, Inc.
Turn the freedom conferred upon employees into a performance driver for the company.
Author(s): Isaac Getz, Brian M. Carney
Publisher: Crown Business
Date of publication: 2009
Manageris opinion
Whether in the political, economic, family or leisure sphere, we all seek the means to act and make decisions freely. Yet, this liberty too often escapes us in the world of business. We find ourselves hobbled by an oppressive hierarchy or micro-management. In this book, Isaac Getz and Brian Carney show us that the freedom conferred upon employees is one of the main performance drivers available to companies today. Trusting employees, giving them breathing room and treating them as equals helps to make them more productive and effective—and happier at work!
This requires open and honest communication, because companies must not only share information, but also listen to their employees and integrate their contributions to encourage initiative and autonomy. This approach, which involves taking full advantage of the human capital of the organization, has been applied successfully by many businesses. This book retraces in great detail some of the biggest successes in this arena, such as that of Harley Davidson.
An enthralling read for any company executive or manager who wants to initiate cultural change based on human capital.
See also
Successfully transitioning to the self-managed enterprise
While the ”liberated company” model provides a solution to agility challenges, it involves a real disruption in organizing the relationships among employees. What does it take to achieve such a radical change?
The holacratic company: beyond the utopia
The concept of the holacratic company attempts to give employees a maximum of autonomy by eliminating the constraints which hobble initiative. What underlies the success of organizations which have adopted this management approach?
Participative management in the 2.0 era
In times of free exchanges in discussion forums and instantaneous information flow through social networks and Twitter, traditional intra-company communication channels look archaic. How can one foster a real conversation between an organization and its employees?