Completely agree. One of the quickest ways to burn bridges and ensure you are perceived as caring more about your own ego and "needs" than anything else, is to

Completely agree. One of the quickest ways to burn bridges and ensure you are perceived as caring more about your own ego and "needs" than anything else, is to re-implement something without talking to anyone about it, be they the authors, stakeholders or 3rd-party dependents. This kind of "look at me, manager! look what I did!" behavior is the cancerous seed of a team ruled by self-seeking and ego. If your needs would benefit the whole and are not a mere excuse for egoism, but are not aligned with the company/team, get another job. In the end, the author learned a lesson, but the wrong one. It's not that you should listen when voices of dissent shout in your ear, but that you should simply foster a general environment of open communication, and discourage action-without-coordination.