People need freedom to act. Motivated, trained, and well-inculturated people don’t need to be “controlled.” Adults don’t need to be treated like children. People tend not to do their best work with someone looking over their shoulders.

Do people in your company—all people—have the authority (i.e., without approval from anyone) to make decisions that cost money? They ought to. Whoa! We bet that got your attention. Are we serious?

Yes. We’re very serious. Of course, we don’t mean that all people should have the authority to commit the company to million-dollar contracts, or that front-line clerks should be able to authorize the purchase of a new building. But people should have wide discretionary power to take responsibility to make sure something gets done fast, and done right.

As Netflix grows there are an increasing number of pockets where Reed’s modeling and Patty’s initial instructions don’t seem to have trickled down. On these Netflix teams, the “no vacation policy” does feel a bit like a “no vacation” policy. But many leaders at Netflix are consciously following Reed’s modeling, taking big vacations and making sure everyone is watching. And when they do, employees use the freedom Netflix provides in many surprising and beneficial ways.

This is the nub of F&R. If your people choose to abuse the freedom you give them, you need to fire them and fire them loudly, so others understand the ramifications. Without this, freedom doesn’t work.

I don’t want rules that prevent employees from making good decisions in a timely way. Fowler’s review was worth hundreds of times more to both Netflix and Samsung than that TV. Nick had just five words to guide his actions: “Act in Netflix’s best interest.” That freedom enabled him to use good judgment to do what was right for the company. But freedom isn’t the only benefit of removing your expense policy. The second benefit is that the lack of process speeds everything up.

Once you have a workforce made up nearly exclusively of high performers, you can count on people to behave responsibly. Once you have developed a culture of candor, employees will watch out for one another and ensure their teammates’ actions are in line with the good of the company. Then you can begin to remove controls and give your staff more freedom. Great places to start are the lifting of your vacation, travel, and expense policies. These elements give people more control over their own lives and convey a loud message that you trust your employees to do what’s right. The trust you offer will in turn instill feelings of responsibility in your workforce, leading everyone in the company to have a greater sense of ownership.