So how do you determine, during an interview, if the candidate has a strong sense of mission about their work and also feel that they have much personal autonomy? Perhaps the second piece happens after they're hired when you give them the autonomy, but it seems like a strong sense of mission isn't enough -- they need to be able to execute on it either through their own actions or by influencing others. And, of course, you need to find some whose mission aligns with the needs of your company.
Try behavioral interview questions. One of the folks on my team liked to use most of his hour with a candidate finding out about a project the person had worked on and ideally led. He'd dig for technical depth, project impact, and clues about soft skills all while having a fun conversation about something the candidate was passionate about.
Please excuse the HR speak above. I know geeks generally hate it but it helps explain to HR why we should really hire someone right now before someone else snaps 'em up.
Can any developer feel a strong sense of mission about a project when the project isn't their child? Personally, I don't think I can. If it's not my child project, then to me it's just a 9 to 5 job. At least I've decided it will be since last year, since any extra work I put in wasn't noticed / rewarded.
So I'd say autonomy is great, but will probably only give great results if the project itself is a pet project by the developer.
Sometimes you can determine it before the interview, just by googling them. Developers with a real passion for what they do will frequently have a significant personal web presence devoted to it, through open source projects, blogs, or what have you.
