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Transparency: The Core of “Freedom and Responsibility”
date
May 2, 2023
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transparency-the-core-of-“freedom-and-responsibility”
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Public
tags
F&R
summary
In this post, I want to explain why I believe transparency is the most important part of F&R.
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Post
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updatedAt
May 22, 2023 03:58 PM
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Writing
Opinion
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‘Freedom and Responsibility’ is a well-known phrase in the context of corporate culture, particularly within Netflix’s culture. Since the rise of Netflix’s corporate culture, many companies have tried to adopt this approach.
In this post, I want to explain why I believe transparency is the most important part of F&R.
I’m not a culture evangelist nor a corporate culture specialist. I’m simply a software developer who has experienced working for a company that followed Freedom and Responsibility. Therefore, this piece is an opinion written by someone who is interested in corporate culture.
1. Which one is more important? Freedom vs Responsibility
To answer this question, we need to consider why a company needs a good corporate culture. Is it to give employees freedom? To make employees happier? Corporate culture is not a ‘Freedom Movement’ or a ‘Happy Therapy’. These can be the method, can’t be the purpose.
The purpose of a good corporate culture is to enable employees to use their abilities to the fullest.
Let’s return to our topic: Freedom and Responsibility. ‘Making employee work with responsibility’ is closer to the core purpose of corporate culture than simply ‘Making employee work with freedom’. Therefore, Freedom can be considered a means to achieve the purpose of corporate culture, while responsibility is a core aspect of that purpose.
In conclusion, Responsibility is more important than Freedom.
2. How to make Responsibility?
Freedom and Responsibility are both based on Trust. However, I think the nature of trust differs between the two concepts.
Freedom is based on ‘Trust in employees of company’
Responsibility is based on ‘Employees’ perception of being trusted’
Therefore, if a company wants to make Responsibility, they should strive to make employees feel trusted.
3. How to make employees feel trusted?
Freedom can be the answer to this question. Unlimited Vacation.. Flexible Working Time.. Payment without acception..
But I think these are not enough. Can you feel trusted when a company hides important information? At least, I can’t. And I guess many people who want to work with responsibility or a CEO mindset also can’t.
The key is Transparency. If employees can access important information without any difficult, they will feel more trusted than by simply enjoying unlimited something. They can understand why they have to work and achieve the goals.
Conclusion
Freedom and Responsibility is a great concept, but it can also be dangerous. Without transparency, it can devolve into ‘Freedom without Responsibility’, which can be disastrous and decrease productivity even more than old-school corporate culture. Achieving transparency is difficult, but it is essential for Freedom and Responsibility.