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I find the trick is to do maintenance while doing meaningful (as described by the powers that be) work. So when a new feature or bug fix is asked for, add anoth

I find the trick is to do maintenance while doing meaningful (as described by the powers that be) work. So when a new feature or bug fix is asked for, add another 15% to the time required, and clean up the code base a bit. The knee-jerk, which rarely works, is to demand time to refactor everything or ignore everything until it breaks irreparably. I think in your case, simplifying a script by a dozen lines a week or so could have been done without taking away "points". Abandoning the status quo and committing too much time will inevitably be looked down on in most industries, however.

bluGill 7y ago
The poster was doing a military contract, not working for his own company. His companies money - and thus his bonus - is in putting in hours to do what is requested. Saving money means they get paid less hours now the project is smaller and so the bonus is less because they are paid less. In private industry it can (but often does not) mean that you can get more profit and thus a larger bonus by saving your company money long term. However in the world of contractors saving the client money this is not rewarded.