"@Frank .. I think "control" will come to be viewed very differently in progressive, intelligently lead-and-managed organizations.

Why would you ever want to leave an organization that values what you had to offer and had to say ? Why would you not enjoy making your best contributions at a company that actually worked at helping you understand that you are valued and that your (hard) work and desire to learn (so that you can keep on doing things better .. i.e. work is learning, learning is work) are a fundamental part of its success?

I'd want to work there. There have been examples of such organizations in the past .. and there's sort-off a nod to these ideas in the annual "10 (or 100) Best Companies to Work For" surveys. The Hay Group does one each year for Fortune magazine, and there's one out here in BC carried out by BC Business magazine.

Anyway .. I am pretty sure the social contract re; working and why and how we work will keep changing, and smart organizations will, I think, begin to understand that helping employees keep learning (mostly from each other) is nothing but in those organizations' best interests .. wjether or not they 'feel' a bit less in control.