I had a similar situation, where a colleague's research assistant estimated it would take her 300 hours to process some data. 15 mins of python later and I land

I had a similar situation, where a colleague's research assistant estimated it would take her 300 hours to process some data. 15 mins of python later and I landed coauthorship on their paper! I've run into similar situations where people contributed < an hour of expertise that ended up saving weeks of frustration. (and I've probably squandered a lot of time too.. )