> At one extreme, you say "do whatever the hell you want", and not much 
> happens.

Anyone with half a brain would realise that "do whatever the hell you want" 
actually meant "do whatever you want to ensure our IT system is as good as 
possible" (assuming your job was as IT guy or whatever).  If really nothing 
got done then you would be fired.  A decent employee would maybe start by 
questioning other staff (both senior and junior) about the existing IT 
system, checking out the current equipment, planning any improvements they 
thought necessary, etc.  You have to realise that a lot of jobs (and 
managers) do not expect to have to tell you in detail what to do, you should 
be able to just get on with it, and that is seen as a good quality 
everywhere I've worked.

For example, shortly after I started working my manager told me he wanted me 
to make a system to measure the amount of optical distortion caused by 
pressing on a LCD screen, so we could compare different technology 
accurately and not just judge it "by eye".  That's all he told me.  Of 
course once I'd figured out what I thought was the best way to do it I ran 
it past him and got approval to purchase some equipment, but he didn't tell 
me exactly what to do, that's not his job, that's my job.

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