I don’t know how many times in private conversation with friends and colleagues, I hear one constant theme. The absolute desire for freedom. Some want to be their own boss (61% according to Gallup) and the rest are perfectly content to work for someone else. However, almost everyone wants to have some level of freedom in their schedule, activities, and accomplishments.
Quiet Frustration
Henry David Thoreau wrote the famous line “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” How true! Walk into any company on any day and you will find a number of people dutifully going through the motions painfully waiting for the end of the day to arrive. They sneak out to the bathroom on a regular basis to get a break, run over to the lunchroom to get a cup of coffee, have “collaboration” meetings with their fellow workers, or sit staring at the wall. Of course, the best fakers can review Facebook looking like they are focused on work.
Many eons ago, one of my college professors told a story of a manufacturing line where workers were counting down the years, months, days, and hours until they retire. These workers put up with monotonous daily activities (like installing the rear left tire) hour after hour after hour. For young people in their twenties, retirement is a painful long distant goal. Wait until they finally get to 65 and realize they didn’t have enough money to retire! Talking about major depression.
Employee Freedom
Many get confused and think they want to be an entrepreneur. I think they are misguided. Being an entrepreneur takes a person with very specific skills. Entrepreneurs need to be extreme risk takers, be willing to handle all phases of a business (think HR and legal issues) as well as be totally responsible for everything. Being an entrepreneur is very tough and I am convinced that few people have the skills to be one.
Many who are employees like the ability to have a regular paycheck and work with a large group. That will not happen as an entrepreneur.
The answer is for employees to find an environment where they have freedom. This may occur working inside a company. Or, it may be as a freelance or contractor.
In another blog post, I will discuss how strategies on how to get freedom as there are many different routes to achieve freedom.