The line "being a developing nation, it means opportunities are fewer, and you tend to get stuck where you are longer than you usually want," is very interestin

The line "being a developing nation, it means opportunities are fewer, and you tend to get stuck where you are longer than you usually want," is very interesting me. I can't speak to that notion exactly, but here in the US people very often feel exactly the same about managers in any job so far as becoming "very passive so not to anger their manager." It's often much easier to survive the day-to-day by being passive and doing things inefficiently or wrong than it is to trying to 'do the right thing'. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say most management _everywhere_ prefers employees to do things "their way" over "the right way." And insofar as how to combat it, your simple suggestion pretty much hits the nail on the head. Just make sure on-site management understands that too.