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> When you hire great people, you can afford to give them a lot of autonomy.

I think you have this completely backwards: in order to be great, autonomy is required. There's much written about motivations and what makes people happy in the workplace but micromanagement is one of the most easily recognizable anti-habits of a bad work environment. It breeds resentment and engenders an atmosphere of distrust. Bring out the best in people by giving them autonomy.

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It's probably some measure of both, but from my experience there are some people you can't afford to give autonomy.

Then you can't afford to keep them around either, right?

The world is not black and white, keep an employee or fire them.

If an employee can perform well with the additional investment of some structure and management, then it might be a cost effective approach.

Depends who you are and how big you are. Not every company can have the very best employees in the industry.

Read the OP. Its not about the best it is about giving all people autonomy.

Not everyone has the right personality to work for places like Stripe or Valve. They are specifically picking people who can self-direct themselves in a way that is beneficial to the company.

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