Public companies have already rethought this. They give equity compensation in RSUs (i.e. options with a strike price of 0), rather than options with a strike

Public companies have already rethought this. They give equity compensation in RSUs (i.e. options with a strike price of 0), rather than options with a strike price at the current valuation. With RSUs, you are rewarded for meeting high expectations. With options, you are only rewarded if you dramatically beat already very high expectations.