Freiheitsgrade, liberté or just plain autonomy

A guy walks into a bar, sits down and says, “I love my job.” The nosy business consultant sipping on the new Matador margarita overhears the happy gentleman and, thus, the conversation begins.

Enjoying the evening with his girlfriend, Mike gushed about his boss, his company and the meaningful work he was able to do. My role was eavesdropper: Stay put, listen and snatch up a live account of a company doing something right.

Too often we trust the restaurant critic or movie reviewer instead of gathering our own information. I like a combination of trusting the experts and scooping up my own data.

You’ve probably eaten food and enjoyed movies ravaged by critics and reviewers. I read lots of books, even bad ones — not on purpose, but in the course of cranking through a book or two a month, some are going to be stinkers. The reading habit has taught me that even a poorly written book has some nuggets that can help my business grow or solve a client’s pesky leak in retention. I never rely solely on an author’s account of what happens in the real world.  I live in the same world; might as well go look for myself.

A good consultant can smell a savory story, one that’ll astound an audience or at least get a few workshop attendees to stop texting. Snooping for my scoop, I asked Mike to spell out exactly why he loved his job so much.  He paused to take a sip of his margarita but I could tell he didn’t need the time.  He nearly articulated each letter, “A-U-T-O-N-O-M-O-N-Y.  They give me direction and leave me alone—I just love it.”

Helga, a German friend, told me about research she used while working on her Ph.D. It concluded that people in all countries craved to be involved with something important; something special. A huge added benefit, she related, was that they got to do their own thing in the context of that, something special. For some reason, I asked her what the word was in German — auf deutsch? Loosely translated: Freiheitsgrade, degrees of freedom.

Freiheitsgrade; that’s exactly what Mike was bubbling about. The margarita, and his lovely companion, probably boosted his mood in the bar that evening, but he talked about his job. The evening was calm and lovely while the day’s effort and toil melted away, and yet he talked glowingly about the degree of freedom in his job. Enlightened companies, universities and hospitals pay serious money to get this result. One “Mike” on the team can turn average plodders into superstars. The enthusiasm of a “Mike” is contagious as it crosses boundaries and demolishes silos.

The smart leader that gets her hands on a “Mike” learns from him and does her best to replicate whatever created him. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many leaders ignore the “Mikes” on their team, busy massaging quarterly numbers; too much time with loud underperformers, and pretending to know it all. The Mikes and Michaelas slowly lose that glow and start switching the conversation to politics, religion or weather to avoid talking about work.

Years ago I learned a wonderful lesson by observing work activity in my office. Emily and Lorie helped with workbooks, phone calls and logistics for teaching courses. One day, as they gently ignored me, I realized each was thoroughly and silently engulfed in a project she had chosen. Emily attacked workbooks for a class at Stanford while Lorie fiercely snapped and tapped mystery pieces of new office furniture.

I still read a book a month, practice my French and learn a few neat German words now and then. I’m convinced we’d all do well to learn how to spell freiheitsgrade.

Rick Griggs is the inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool and founder of the Quid Novi Innovation conference. Contact him at rick@griggsachieve.com or 970.690.7327.

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