The Unfreedom of 'Do Whatever You Like'

"You can do whatever you like."
How would you feel if your boss said that to you?

Would you feel excited?
Or would you feel a bit anxious?

Originally, "freedom" is a positive word.
It means being able to choose and act according to your own will. It means not being restricted by anyone.

But in reality, many people feel bewildered when told, "You can do whatever you like."
Not knowing what to do, their thinking actually stops, and they start searching for the "correct answer."

Even though freedom should be liberating, it invites anxiety and confusion. The reason for this lies in the structure in which we were raised.

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Compulsory education was, for the most part, practice in "living within a framework."

• Problems always have a "correct answer"

• Evaluation is based on "predetermined criteria"

• What you should do is "given from above"

Raised within such a "subordinate structure," we lack resilience toward "states without answers."

In other words, our bodies are not accustomed to the structure of freedom = a series of judgments = personal responsibility.

Therefore, "You can do whatever you like" is received as a silent pressure to "decide for yourself and take responsibility for yourself."

The scary thing about this structure is that, on the surface, it takes the positive form of "I trust you." But in reality, there are many cases where giving freedom is confused with abandoning design and support.

For example—

• Telling a new employee to "do it freely," but then evaluating them poorly if they fail

• Giving someone discretion, but having an implicit, predetermined "correct" way to proceed

• Being denied after acting freely with the comment, "That way of doing things is problematic"

In this way, the structure where one says "freedom" while actually having an "unclear scope of tolerance" creates anxiety and hesitation.

So, how should freedom actually be handled?

Freedom is not "you can do whatever you like." It is
sharing purpose and responsibility within a selectable structure.

In other words,

• Why are you doing this? (Purpose)

• How much discretion do you have? (Design)

• In what form will results be shared? (Evaluation)

Only when these three are in place does "freedom" become a "motivation" rather than a source of anxiety.

However, in many workplaces, only "discretion" is thrown at people while "design" is left out. As a result, they end up suffering alone with the question, "Is my judgment correct?"

Freedom is not something that is given, but something that is supported.

Freedom without design easily becomes "neglect" or "dumping responsibility." Conversely, designed freedom makes people the strongest and most creative.

In other words, if you find yourself unable to move when told "you're free to do whatever," it is not because your will is weak. It is because the "structure that supports freedom" does not exist.

You don't have to think it's "your fault" that you can't move freely.
If you felt that "freedom" was scary—

that is probably the fault of the "structure."

The previous #StructuralAnalysisSeries was...

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