Autonomy to transform organizations

How do we move beyond the structures of control and power that exist inside companies?

Heteronomy is a philosophical concept that refers to “an individual’s dependence on the will of others or of a collective”. It means acting according to norms set in advance by other people. Heteronomy points to obedience.

When the ethical system between two people is heteronomy, a relationship of submission is created. Besides accepting a way of acting that was determined by someone else, the individual is also controlled so that they follow the order imposed on them.

This establishes a relationship of command and control between a dominant individual and a dominated individual. At its foundation are fear, insecurity and secrecy, which guarantee that heteronomy works.

Heteronomy is the foundation of the traditional management model.

Formal hierarchy, job and role descriptions, career plans and the definition of rules and processes are the side effects of this social technology in the world of organizations.

In “mechanical” companies, the prescription of work, the power structure, the concern with avoiding conflict and the excessive value placed on predictability in the relationships between professionals and the business set the tone for how things should happen when the work gets done.

Autonomy is exactly the opposite. In this concept, an individual’s action is determined by themselves, according to their own will. However, it doesn’t mean acting any way you like, independently, but rather in harmony with the social constraints that limit our attitudes and behaviors within a group of people.

It means acting according to your own rules, but within the limits of the social relationships we establish with others. It means finding the best way to act while taking into account everything and everyone around us.

To do that, you need self-knowledge to understand your own capacity to act, and you also need to know the other person in order to act within a socially authorized threshold in a given context. You need to understand the relationships between people, respecting and taking part in social agreements (whether they are more subjective and informal or more objective and formal).

Relationships between autonomous individuals are also shaped by the social phenomena of collaboration (doing a piece of work together with another person) and leadership (the behavior and attitude of an individual who creates conditions for a group of people to collectively overcome a difficult obstacle). Trust, psychological safety and transparency are the pillars that make autonomy in these relationships authentic.

Autonomy is the defining trait of distributed, democratic and people-centered management models.

Collective decisions, emergent leadership, experimentation (mistakes, successes and lessons learned) and high engagement with the business are evidence that autonomy is present in working relationships.

In “organic” companies, it is the definition of values, purposes and goals, the way of thinking about work and the creation of social agreements that give a professional the support they need to act autonomously within a team.

While organizations that bet on heteronomy believe in the ability of a few people to achieve success, organizations that bet on autonomy value each individual’s creativity and cultivate strong social relationships to achieve superior results.