While it sounds counterintuitive, most people do better with some constraints than no boundaries.
- When students are told to write a paper with no topic or guidelines, choosing a topic becomes as hard as writing the paper itself (just ask anyone who has written a dissertation!)
- Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) sounds good, but many employees actually take less time off under this benefit.
- If people don’t have defined parameters for their money, it can be uncomfortable to spend it, even when their finances would allow.
- If there are no policies or standard procedures at work, the lack of structure can be draining, as more time is spent trying to figure things out rather than embracing the opportunity to innovate.
- The nightly conversation about “what do you want for dinner” is harder when the options aren’t narrowed.
In most cases, people do better when there is a defined “fence,” and they are allowed to run freely within it. Too much freedom is not freeing.
