[ Autonomous ]

Of the four factors that a successful career can be built on (mastery, autonomy, impact, and connection), autonomy is a mysterious one, which we might not know we want, and need, to feel successful.

Autonomy means we’re allowed to be self-directed.  The funny thing is, knowledge work is 85% self-directed.  I made that percentage up, but it feels right.  Because it happens every time we start a new project or job – in work like project engineering, we often just ‘figure out’ how to do the next step.  That’s pretty much being autonomous. 

Using autonomy well is a sign of success.