This is a really good point. When I think of the people who I've worked with who are successful without structure are usually a little bit paranoid/neurotic. Even if no one has checked on them for months, in the back of their head, they are still concerned about the repercussions of slacking off.

I should note that people without this personality trait can be successful too. But in their case, the repercussions for slacking off must be real and immediate (usually just being verbally called out). As a business you must have systems in place to know when this is happening.

There is another type of person who cannot be successful at all in this scenario. They will do everything in their power and intellect to get away with slacking off. ...Oftentimes because they cannot stop themselves from slacking off so their options are either: quit, get fired, or try to get away with it. Most people don't quit.