The big one for me was the realisation that
the code doesn't matter. I mean sure, it does, to us. It's what we do. But really, code doesn't matter.
To the end user, what matters is that we solve their problem. We let them do their job, and we make that job as easy as possible. And that's what they pay us for.
And to the company we work for, what matters is that we solve the end user's problem, and that we do so in an expedient and economical manner, so that it costs less for us to do so than the customer pays us.
Of course, for us to continue doing this, in the long term, we need to innovate and architect and uphold standards and stay on top of technical debt. And all of that put together is "make the code good". But that's an end to the means, and the customer doesn't care what horrors awake when they click that dialog box button as long as the result they needed pops out at the end.
To the end user, what matters is that we solve their problem. We let them do their job, and we make that job as easy as possible. And that's what they pay us for.
And to the company we work for, what matters is that we solve the end user's problem, and that we do so in an expedient and economical manner, so that it costs less for us to do so than the customer pays us.
Of course, for us to continue doing this, in the long term, we need to innovate and architect and uphold standards and stay on top of technical debt. And all of that put together is "make the code good". But that's an end to the means, and the customer doesn't care what horrors awake when they click that dialog box button as long as the result they needed pops out at the end.