The woman who had been wasting this time for years came up and hugged me in tears. No one was getting fired but I'd just freed up enough time that she didn't have to work overtime everyday. It was such a simple change and lifted such a weight off the users shoulders that went undone for years because nobody actually watched them using our software.
Unfortunately someones authority was undermined and I was let go a few weeks later.
That is so depressing.
I have a huge amount of latitude in how I spend my time so if boss sees me in the loading dock scanning deliveries he assumes that I'm doing it for a good reason.
One of many reasons you'd need a crowbar and a tub of grease to get me to leave, I've had offers with 20% better compensation or more including some developer management roles but never even considered them, I'm well paid for a developer relative to the local market, I work a 37.5hr week, week in/week out and my work is both appreciated and has a measurable impact, it's close to programmer heaven (except for the mess I inherited but that's slowly getting sorted).
There is more to life than money including actually having time for a life.
I've also spent time in our sandblast units and our loading docks and sales team.
How can I architect and build good software if I don't have a good understanding of the domain and you can only get that by immersing yourself in it head first.
I'm lucky in that my boss cottoned onto the fact we get better software when I see the problem in the raw and not just his interpretation of the problem.
Wouldn't work for everyone, we are a small production/import company so it's possible for me to get the basics of each users role (and I can physically go ask them if need be) but it's a huge win imo if it's possible.