Hi
Interesting what Keg says about the Outsiders view.
From my (whingeing) pom perspective, the 'fair go' attitude of NZ & Oz is one of the most attractive things about this end of the world. That people are generally trusted until they do something dumb is a nice way of operating. It represents the geometric opposite to the British way which is to trust no-one and legislate away any possible chance of individual blame or risk anywhere in the system. Which, of course, is why Britain is dying of "Beaurocrat`s palsy".
The problem is that it is all too easy to misuse the trust. This doesn`t matter in a safety-uncritical industry like IT. However, there are many industries where this not the case. The obvious one is aviation where a lot of compliance is based on self-regulation. As I stated earlier, it shows on the roads as well. Another area where, despite Helen`s cash-driven speed cops, the vast bulk of vehicle movements rely on self-regulation.
Lets just say that I`m glad NZ is nuclear-free - I think the "see if you can get 105% out of it, bro!" mindset would be a bad one in that industry!!
Cheers
James