This might help explain some of the problems I am having with the younger work force. They seem to have an inability to work on their own. They are great as long as you tell them what to do and when to do it, but expecting them to have self direction and to notice problems and figure out how to fix them seems to be too much.
This is not a problem with bad attitudes or unwillingness or even lack of skills. They just don't seem to notice when something isn't "right". And they have a real problem if you can't give them explicit instructions on how to complete a task. They do fine in areas where the work can be very predictable and potential problems can be codified. But they do very poorly dealing with the unexpected. Which means they do not have the skills needed to move into management where one of the biggest skills is to recognize that there is a problem and then get creative in finding solutions.