If you build an organization made up of high performers, you can eliminate most controls. The denser the talent, the greater the freedom you can offer.

SET AND REINFORCE CONTEXT TO GUIDE EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR… This brings us to the second step critical for successfully removing your vacation policy. When you remove a policy, employees don’t know how to operate with the absence. Some will be paralyzed until the boss tells them explicitly what actions are okay. If you don’t tell them, “Take some time off,” they won’t. Others will imagine they have complete freedom to behave in wildly inappropriate ways like going on vacation at a time that causes pain to everyone else. This not only sabotages team effectiveness, but could ultimately lead the manager to throw up his hands and fire the employee, which is not good for anyone.

In the absence of written policy, every manager must spend time speaking to the team about what behaviors fall within the realm of the acceptable and appropriate.

Instead I reminded myself of what I often tell leaders throughout Netflix:

When one of your people does something dumb don’t blame them. Instead ask yourself what context you failed to set. Are you articulate and inspiring enough in expressing your goals and strategy? Have you clearly explained all the assumptions and risks that will help your team to make good decisions? Are you and your employees highly aligned on vision and objectives?

You know you’re successfully leading with context when your people are moving the team in the desired direction by using the information they’ve received from you and those around you to make great decisions themselves.

If your goal is to build a more inventive, fast, and flexible organization, develop a culture of freedom and responsibility by establishing the necessary conditions so you can remove these rules and processes too.