I actually agree with both positions. As Zen Scanner says, the workforce is increasingly required to understand their responsibilities, and make individual, creative decisions on how best to meet them. And as master of none says, the workforce is increasingly imposed upon by rules and regulations. Employers try to play both sides of it, and it creates a lot of tension on the employees. For instance, one thing those manuals won't detail is exactly how much autonomy the employee really has, and which decisions they're empowered to make. Their managers will make those determinations on a case-by-case basis, and they can't always rely on precedent.
Basically, the rule is, "You're free to make decisions, unless I don't like them."
And since very few employees are telepaths/empaths/prescients, you can generally sort workers into two camps... those who are willing to make decisions and live with the consequences (good or bad), and those who are frozen by doubt.
Me, I like life on the edge.
As an IT systems guy, I benefit a lot from both approaches. Since nobody knows what I do, I have a lot of freedom in deciding how to do it. But by adhering to an agreed structure when I do so, I also ensure that if something breaks after hours, one of my coworkers can find how I did it, and maybe address the issue without calling me.
