I generally don't like thinking of teams at work as a "family," and I think most companies that overuse this language are just trying to compensate for the fact that their culture sucks and verbally manifest a better one into existence. That being said, for companies trying to establish a hyper-innovative culture, I kind of like the idea of managers and employees being compared to parents and rebellious teenagers.
Because I don't think the role of a manager is to be the end-all-be-all decision maker much like that shouldn't be the role of a parent. Parents are there to guide their children and give them advice when needed, but they also need to expect that sometimes teenagers won't listen to their advice. Teenagers will follow their own instincts and make some bad decisions on occasion and learn and grow from those mistakes. And a good parent doesn't get pissed off, say, "I told you so," and end the conversation when that happens. A good parent supports their children through that mistake and makes sure they come out the other side stronger. Employees who are never given the chance to make their own decisions will be slow to grow and push the company forward just like teenagers who are never given the chance to make their own decisions will be slow to mature.
And it's healthy for teenagers to be a bit rebellious sometimes or go against their parents' wishes. Because even though you called that kid a knucklehead for dropping out of high school to pursue music one credit short of graduating, that kid might be named Billy Joel and might have a better instinct about his future than you do. The conventional decision isn't always the one that leads to the most successful path, and only those with a rebellious bone will ever get the chance to realize that.
The truth of the matter is companies who are trying to be hyper-innovative don't need a bunch of okay piano player ideas. They need a few Billy Joel ideas.
Managers should be there to set the guardrails for their team and and be directionally correct on the vision, but employees should be encouraged to push the limits of those guardrails and step over them if they are owning the decision and truly believe it's the right call. Every now and then it's good for the kids to smoke a joint.
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