Module 5 · 30 min

A — Autonomy

The sense of having control over my own work. In IT — over-prescriptive specs, micromanagement in standup, invaded calendar — are the 3 dominant forms of Autonomy theft.

You'll learn

Recognize when you're stealing someone's Autonomy unintentionally (specs, meetings, decisions)
Build outcome-based user stories (WHAT + WHY, not HOW)
Reframe „commands” into „options”

Studies (Lazarus, 1991; Steptoe, 2000) show: a sense of control over your own work reduces stress more than solving the problem. A dev told „how” to implement is more stressed than one only told „what” problem to solve — even if the latter is harder. Autonomy isn't a nice-to-have, it's a need.

How Autonomy shows up in IT

Three zones where BAs/POs/EMs steal Autonomy unknowingly: (1) Specs — the ticket describes HOW (exact UI position, exact wording, exact behavior steps) instead of WHAT and WHY. (2) Standup turns into „status report to manager” rather than sync. (3) Calendar — meetings booked without asking, focus time broken by „quick 5 min”.

What activates Autonomy (toward)

Give WHAT and WHY, leave HOW. „User needs to easily confirm” > „put a primary button with Confirm text”.
Open questions in refinement: „how would you approach this technically?”.
„Are you interested in taking this task?” instead of „I'm assigning it”.
Respected focus blocks — no „just 5 min, quickly”.
Permission to decline a meeting without long explanations.

What threatens Autonomy (away)

Prescriptive specs with UX/UI details (exact position, exact wording, field order, behavior on each click) — which should be left to design + dev.
Daily status check-ins when not needed („I want updates at 10am until you're done”).
Someone (PO, PM, EM) who rewrites your stories or acceptance criteria in Jira without telling you.
Calendar-affecting decisions (recurring meetings) imposed, not negotiated.
„Let's do...” instead of „are you interested to do...?”.
Comments on specs/stories that „dictate” rewrites instead of asking.

Exercises — pick what to try

Exercise5 minSoloEnergizer

4 Autonomy moments in IT

Which of these scenarios most threatens Autonomy? Click, then „Check”. Heads up: some hit multiple dimensions — pick what's dominant.

Scenario 1

The PM sets up a recurring „daily 1-1 check-in” at 9am, without asking if it works for you.

Scenario 2

The story describes step-by-step exactly what to put on screen: which label, exact button text, error message word-for-word, exact field order.

Scenario 3

EM asks you publicly, in standup: „Mihai, when are you finishing task X?”.

Scenario 4

Tech Lead rewrites your Jira story title directly, without telling you. You see when it's reassigned.

Exercise10 minPairRedesign

Redesign: prescriptive spec → outcome-based

Below is an acceptance criteria written prescriptively (says HOW). Rewrite it as outcome-based (WHAT + WHY), leaving the team to decide implementation.

Before
User Story: Login MFA

Acceptance Criteria:
1. Place a „Send Code” button under the password field (not above, not to the side)
2. The code is 6 digits, always numeric, never letters
3. After exactly 60 seconds, show the „Resend” button with text „Send code again”
4. If the code is wrong, write under the field in red: „Invalid code. Try again.”
5. Success message: „Successfully authenticated!”, 14px font

Write the outcome-based version. Then see a hint and a suggested rewrite.

Your version

Exercise5 minSoloReflection

When did you feel micromanaged?

Recall: the last time you felt someone stealing your Autonomy. What happened? What did you do?

Note the scene. Who, what they said/did, how you felt physically, what you did (or didn't do).

Your notes stay only in this browser.

Follow-ups

How would you have wanted to be talked to? What open question would have changed the whole tone?
This week — is there a colleague you might micromanage without realizing? What to watch for?

Deep dive (optional)

Mini-check

You have a dev running late on a task. What do you pick?

Select an answer.