This autonomy is in part a natural result of the nature of knowledge work. Since it's difficult to tell whether knowledge workers are actually thinking at any given moment, Supervisors pretty much have to take their word for it. The Outputs of knowledge work are also difftcult to specify in great detail, so that is generally left up to the workers.

Knowledge workers like autonomy. One important aspect of knowledge workers is that they don't like to be told what to do. Thinking for a living engenders thinking for oneself. Knowledge workers are paid for their education, experience, and expertise, so it is not surprising that they often take offense when someone eise rides roughshod over their intellectual territory.