> It can absolutely ruin your reputation and cost you future employment. If your solution does not meet the company's needs, yes, this is certainly true. But I

> It can absolutely ruin your reputation and cost you future employment. If your solution does not meet the company's needs, yes, this is certainly true. But I never said you should do something that does not meet the company's needs. I just pointed out that meeting the company's needs, even if you add the qualifier that you are going to do that in a way that is professional and does not create unnecessary burdens for others, still does not always mean "write great software". It means finding the optimal solution for the particular problem. > setting boundaries with the owner of that business as to what is and is not practical and achievable. And in cases where "write great software" is not practical and achievable (and yes, there will be plenty of such cases), that would mean telling the owner that it is not practical and achievable to write great software to meet this particular requirement, and recommending a different solution. Which is what I said.