Ask HN: Finding interesting consulting work? Go from execution 2 decision making?

It is frustrating when we are just told what to do, without ever bothering to ask if there is a better/simpler way to do things. Many times I (and my team mates) have better ideas than managers, only to be ignored (then 6 months later implement the same thing as if it was never proposed before).

Same with freelance projects.

How do you get involved in solving a problem and not just being someone who executes tasks? How to get projects that allow us to have freedom to think/experiment etc without having to account for every minute?