As a partial response to ActInsteadOfComplain

A lot of the time, what seems to be a problem is in fact only a ''symptom'' of a deeper problem. When you fix a problem, look for the factors that caused it, and try to fix them too.

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When someone (especially someone "technical") asks for a change to some software, I often suspect that there is some unvoiced "root" problem that they haven't shared with me. I LookForTheDeepReason for their request to find that they have cobbled together some barely adequate way to solve the root problem, if I can make the change they asked for. 

The "technical" person is usually trying to save me some work by asking for a "little" change to something existing. 

Many times, it is easier for me (and better for them) to simply solve their root problem directly.