It's more about setting the bar / expectation. Coding is far from the only field I've seen this. Some guys figure they'll go above and beyond to impress the bo

It's more about setting the bar / expectation. Coding is far from the only field I've seen this. Some guys figure they'll go above and beyond to impress the boss, or just because they want to make more money. A good boss will obviously let their employees know what is expected - but some bosses will start to ask other "Hey, John goes the extra mile all the time. Why can't you too?" And it sort of becomes a race to the bottom.