There are many versions of autonomy. The origin is Greek, the offshoot is Kantian and the modern interpretation contains multitudes.
Some see autonomy as a reflection of power: Consider the masked crimefighter atop a rain-soaked skyscraper, surveying the neon-gashed city that must be saved. Others see autonomy as an avenue to pursue dreams: Picture the artist in the sunlit studio, serenely sipping tea, unaffected by concerns such as money or responsibility.
In the tech world, autonomy is often associated with freedom — more specifically, with the moment when personal initiative eclipses the stranglehold of excessive bureaucracy.
But while autonomy in the workplace is highly valued, there’s one catch: This level of workplace freedom must be built.
“It took years to build up the trust required to have this level of autonomy,” said GrubHub Senior Staff Engineer Andrew Baber. “But that freedom gives me the opportunity to drive major impact across the organization.”
At defense products company Anduril, autonomy and freedom can derive from a sense of ownership over what is being created. “Anduril is especially good at enabling engineers to make mission-critical decisions and to own the products they produce,” explained Perception Engineer Kevin Silmore.
In other instances, it is the company that helps build autonomous space for the employee, either through new structural or systemic practices.
“Autonomy at work is having the flexibility to work my own hours and not be micromanaged,” said Hydrow People Operations Generalist Victoria Chen. “If I need to pick up my kids, I am able to without hesitation.”
Built In Boston sat down with these freedom-loving tech leaders to talk about what self-determination in their workplace looks like, and how that definition of autonomy is built to last.
What does autonomy at work mean to you? Share an example of what it looks like in your work.
As a senior staff engineer, it’s up to me to bring projects to the table and prioritize the work that goes into them. Recently it became clear that we needed to optimize our deployment strategies so I proposed a multi-month plan to build a better system.
The project started as a solo effort, but it quickly became obvious that the work could be completed in parallel. Two additional engineers were added to the team and we operated as a fully independent unit. We set our own goals and deadlines, ensuring we communicated with the broader organization. This allowed us to iterate quickly and launch a brand new automated deployment system that reduced our human toil by 40 hours per week.
The work to fix our deployment process was long overdue and by stepping up and tackling it, we dramatically improved the lives of the developers on the team. If I had not personally taken ownership of the issue, it would still be costing us hours of toil and frustration every week. The feeling of gratification from working so independently provides great job satisfaction and a real sense of accomplishment.
Be easy to manage. Avoid open-ended questions during check-ins.”
How have you been able to build a satisfactory level of autonomy at your current employer?
Excellent communication skills are a must, as there is significantly less oversight involved in your day-to-day decision-making.
Become knowledgeable. It’s impossible to know everything, but the deeper your understanding of all the pieces, the better positioned you are to fill in the gaps and make the right choices.
Do great work. You must deliver quality where it counts. That doesn't mean everything has to be perfect, but you have to make it right. If something goes wrong - own it, communicate, and fix it. In many cases, properly course-correcting is a major green flag for future autonomy as it proves you can keep going even in the face of adversity.
Be easy to manage. Avoid open-ended questions during check-ins. It’s much better to say, “Here are the three options, which one would you prefer?" or “I’ve decided not to pursue [X] for these reasons, do you agree?” The more work you take off your boss’ plate, the more likely they are to trust you with independent work.
How does your employer or manager support you in finding the autonomy you need in your career?
Once established, autonomy becomes part of your identity. When my previous manager moved on from the company, he briefed my new manager on my level of autonomy and assured him that I could be trusted to manage my time effectively. I made sure to build on that trust by driving our one on one meetings, escalating to him only when absolutely necessary, and doing high-quality and impactful work.
That said, there are always improvements to be made and my manager has been helpful in pointing out areas where I can get even better at tracking effort, ensuring that my contributions are understood at the organizational level and not just within my team.
As a junior engineer, I was fortunate to work at a company that valued independence and gave me a lot of freedom to learn and grow. That trust encouraged me to take the initiative on many projects over the years. The success (and failures) of those projects each contributed to my ever-expanding knowledge base that I rely on to this day. If you’re just starting out, do everything you can to show independence and you’ll find that autonomy will follow.
What does autonomy at work mean to you?
Autonomy signifies the ability to take ownership and responsibility for one’s work, and to be involved in proposing directions more broadly when appropriate. For example, I work on developing internal engineering tools, and Anduril’s leadership has enabled me and my coworkers to develop a vision for the product and collaborate with other teams to increase adoption in a way that has been beneficial to everyone involved.
How have you been able to build a satisfactory level of autonomy at your current employer?
Anduril is especially good at enabling engineers to make mission-critical decisions and to own the products they produce. That being said, engineers don’t work on islands: We are a very collaborative company, so people are generally willing to ask for help and eager to acknowledge those that provide it, even if it means sacrificing some autonomy along the way.
Autonomy signifies the ability to take ownership and responsibility for one’s work.”
How does your employer or manager support you in finding the autonomy you need in your career?
Managers at Anduril try hard to enable employees to seek out leadership opportunities and take on more responsibility within a project or across the company as a whole. The company itself is quite growth focused, and I think we maintain the same attitude when it comes to employees career trajectories.
What does autonomy at work mean to you? Share an example of what it looks like in your work.
Here at Hydrow, flexibility is what the company is all about. I can start whenever I wish and end whenever I wish. There are no set hours. If I need to pick up my kids, I am able to without hesitation.
We have the freedom to choose when to work, which has been such a relief.”
How have you been able to build a satisfactory level of autonomy at your current employer?
I haven’t needed to build a level of autonomy because Hydrow already operates this way. We are all given the flexibility and support to schedule our work schedule around our personal lives. We have the freedom to choose when to work, which has been such a relief.
How does your employer or manager support you in finding the autonomy you need in your career?
Hydrow supports their employees by allowing us to freely choose.
