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What is another word for allowing [a professional] to take some sort of [privileges, leniencies, risks, allowances, decision making] with the work they are producing ?

The specific context is I am hiring an artist to create a piece of art, and providing some constraints for the final result. But I want to allow the artist to stretch some of the requirements based on their experience and inclination as an artist.

Something like these example sentence:

  • "Feel free to take artistic leniencies with the provided constraints"
  • "Final video should be 5-10 seconds, depending on artistic inclination"
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I would use "professional discretion" there.

For example,

Feel free to use your professional discretion concerning the provided constraints. (They are only guidelines.)
Final video should be 5-10 seconds, depending on the artist's professional discretion.

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  • To my (non-English) eye "professional discretion" feels like freedom on technical decisions (i.e. acrylic vs. oil paint) vs. "liberties" that sound more artistic freedom of what their actually going to paint. Do these words actually have such connotations?
    – Alexei Levenkov
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 0:54
  • "professional discretion" would apply to non-artistic professions, but I don't see a difference between choice of medium and choice of length (which you mention in the question) or other decisions that would require a different word.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 9:14
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    @AzorAhai-him- As intended here, discretion means the freedom to use one's good judgement. However, another definition of discretion is the noun form of the adjective "discreet", both relating to keeping private information private. As Stuart notes, for some professions, "professional discretion" may mean freedom to one's judgement based on professional knowledge, or it may mean a professional obligation to not share e.g. a patient's private medical information.
    – Angelica
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 20:36
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    @Angelica Oh, I see, that didn't come to mind at all in the larger context of the sentence. While I fair point, I don't think it's fatal for this suggestion.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 20:49
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    @Angelica: The context here would make it highly unlikely that that kind of discretion would be intended.
    – Robusto
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 23:57
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I believe that "artistic license/licence" would also be fit for purpose. Although in its strictest interpretation, artistic licence refers to a place where an artist has already deviated from what would normally be considered "the rules" (or facts), idiomatically there is nothing wrong with telling someone that they "should feel free to take (some/their) artistic licence with it, and not feel constrained by the rules, standards, or exact wording of the request."

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Go ahead and take whatever liberties you need. Lexico Dictionary suggests freedom from hampering conditions.

Merriam-Webster has liberties as "permission especially to go freely within specified limits":

... was given the liberty of the house."

M-W also thinks you can too far when you take liberties, and that's bad, or take liberties with your date, perhaps unwelcome. Who knew?

One boss didn't understand when I introduced myself as most productive when taking liberties. He said he didn't know what I meant, but okay and don't go crazy.

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    This was close, but in the end I went with discretion, as it seemed to imply "feel free to stretch the limits a little" instead of merely "you have utmost freedom within the limits". But otherwise this was a great suggestion. Thank you.
    – Eddie
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 17:25
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lee·​way ˈlē-ˌwā

1 : an allowable margin of freedom or variation : tolerance

The new rules allow managers greater leeway in making decisions.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leeway

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I suggest carte blanche.

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, the word means:

Unrestricted power to act at one's own discretion; unconditional authority

gave the contractor carte blanche to modernize the kitchen.

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    That's possible but might be going a bit far - does the artist really have the power to do anything they like regardless of cost, etc?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 9:15
  • @StuartF I agree with you that it is going a bit far considering carte blanche entails unrestricted discretion, but let's see if it serves the OP's purpose.
    – user405662
    Commented Nov 29, 2022 at 9:33
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Another word for handing off responsibility to someone else is delegate. Merriam-Webster defines this as “to entrust to another” and gives the examples, “delegate authority” and “delegated the task to her assistant.”

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Autonomy

Contractor enjoy a different level of autonomy compare to employee.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 1:03
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Entrust (Wiktionary)

To trust to the care of.

Empower (Wiktionary)

To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.

To give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.

Authorize (Wiktionary)

To grant (someone) the permission or power necessary to do (something).

To permit (something), to sanction or consent to

  • "You are empowered/entrusted/authorized to make artistic decisions."
  • "You are empowered/entrusted/authorized to decide the video length—should be 5-10 seconds."
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