have you thought of an e-card and e-flowers for V-day? it shows you care in that 37 seconds spent on the internet while eating a bagel and reading the paper sort of way.

So typical. I used to want to kill my employees because of that. They were supposed to be of the skilled sort, and I expected initiative and autonomy. Yet, if they'd bump into some problem, they'd do exactly that, sit on their hands til I clarify.

I don't think the education system is the root of the problem though. I kind of reached the conclusion that it was a mixture of environmental laziness and of mentality (how authority is structured and how any initiative is perceived within that authority structure). The laziness part - I don't know if this is the right word in fact - as it is the result of incentives to bust one's ass not being relevent enough for those who remain on the salaried job market: those with more ambitions tend to leave the local salaried job market, either by leaving the country or by chosing to be self-employed/entrepreneurs, which statistically speaking is a better strategy indeed in those places to make a very good living. Those with less ambitions would have the safety network of their family so the sanction of not working is not such a big deal and money or status beyond a certain threshold is not an incentive anymore for them - or the minimum incentive is greater than the value they bring.

A bit simplifying and schematic but it sums up my experience there.