Asking for permission looks polite. It also lets you blame someone else when the plan fails.
I wrote Permissionless about the people who stopped asking for approval and acted anyway. If you're waiting for a yes before you start, read it.
Nobody is coming to authorize your life.
@Daojoan
I started reading the book, and right in the introduction, I think there is a mistake -- " the strike itself was important. Lincoln wanted his generals to think boldly. He recognized the value of a mission like Andrews' suicide raid and posthumously awarded the first Medals of Honor in American history to Andrews and his men."
My recollection (although I was not there) is that two of the Andrews raiders who had recently escaped captivity and made it to Washington and dropped in to visit the Secretary of War. During their visit, the Secretary of War remembered that the first Medals of Honor had just arrived at his office, thought it would be a good idea to give a couple of them to his visitors, and so it was done. The recipients carried them out of the casual appointment without ceremony or ado. I think it has been 10 or 20 years since I listened to quite a detailed audiobook about that raid. Please correct me if I have been misinformed.