Privilege and responsibility

In one paragraph

Flexibility, autonomy, trust and perks are privileges. Each one depends on a corresponding responsibility being met, and the pairing has to be said out loud.

The privilege of working from home carries the responsibility of being contactable and delivering. The privilege of setting your own hours carries the responsibility of meeting the deadline. The privilege of spending company money carries the responsibility of accounting for it.

When only the privilege is named, two things happen. It becomes an entitlement rather than an exchange, and withdrawing it later reads as a punishment rather than a consequence.

Say both halves when granting anything. 'You can work from home on Fridays, and what that depends on is X' is a complete sentence. The first half alone is a hostage to fortune.

How to actually use it

• List the privileges your team currently has and write the matching responsibility beside each. Any with a blank second column is one you cannot manage.
• When something is being abused, restate the pair rather than removing the privilege. Most people did not know the second half existed.

Where it breaks down

• Overdone it becomes transactional and slightly headmasterly. Some things should simply be given because they are decent.

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