And if you do that, you will soon find yourself accumulating more freedom in your job than you know what to do with.
It's not the same as the freedom of academia. It doesn't come all at once with a grant or tenure. But you earn it all the same, and it can be even more powerful.
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Academics often ask me if we have "academic freedom" in industrial research.
Of course we don't, but generally that isn't the real concern -- they want to know if I have control over my own destiny.
I tell them this is my favorite part about industry. 🧵
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In industry, you do not have complete freedom within a job, but you have freedom to pick an organization to work for that aligns with your values.
Within a (good) job, nobody wants to tell you what to do. You succeed by showing that can deliver on the organization's mission.
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Industry is not a perfect system -- I've only experienced a few corporate cultures, and have undoubtedly benefited from a tremendous amount of privilege. And yes, there absolutely pathological cases where it fails entirely.
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All that said -- if you're an academic considering industry, don't let "freedom" hold you back.
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