For too long the ruling ideology of too many organizations has been control: controlling people, controlling information, controlling deviations from the norm. The good news is that we already have a potent model of freedom as an organizing principle. It’s called the Internet.

While the Web has its limits, it is a relentlessly productive seedbed for new organizational forms where: coordination happens without centralization, contribution counts for more than credentials, all ideas compete on equal footing, power comes from sharing rather than hoarding, and where intrinsic rewards matter most of all.

We have experienced such an expansion in freedom in our personal lives with the emergence of digital, social and mobile technologies and the principles that undergird them. It’s time for the workplace to catch up.

When it comes to expanding individual autonomy—and reaping the rewards of increased initiative, creativity, and passion—organizations will get the most traction if they focus on experiments and clever designs for enhancing five crucial freedoms:

CONNECTION Social media opens up endless possibilities for connection. The ability to reach others—instantaneously, without friction—is now woven into the fabric of daily life. Twitter opens the door to the famous, the powerful, the iconic—anyone...