When good work isn't good work........

We have a different sort of group in my work environment. I generally am a Point A to Point B type of guy. Give me the task and let me know when it needs to be completed and I'll deliver the goods. I'm not big on the incremental updating in-between those two points. In my latest task, I was supposed to replicate a problem on the system, implement a coding change from the developer, and verify that the change corrected the original problem. I had three weeks to get it done because the releases only happen every so often. I finished up work on the above process today, thus having everything done two full days before it needed to be done.

Only one problem. Unbeknownst to me, the lady who assigned me the work had complained behind my back to the manager a day before I completed the work that she wasn't getting regular updates. This lady walks by my desk literally ten times a day. At any time, she could have stuck her head in my office and asked how the progress was going and I would have been happy to tell her. So now there's a brief fuss with the management (which will blow over eventually) that I wasn't keeping her informed DESPITE THE FACT that I already have the work completed well in advance of the due date.

The moral of this story: Doing great work is only considered great work if you make sure to regularly pause and tell someone how great your work really is rather than solely focusing on getting the task done.