"You aren't being paid to believe in the power of your dreams"

Alan Francis' post about demotivation got me thinking. I suppose that some people want a simple 9-to-5 job, or are happy to be told what to do and when to do it, but most software developers I've met want more control over their work than that. They mostly dictate how they write code and they want an influence over other aspects of their project environment as well. Especially if they believe that something about their project isn't working, or isn't logical. Developers fix problems with code all day, and to them a project issue is just another sort of problem that can be fixed. And by fixed they mean tweaked, or changed. (The most subversive developers of course just change things themselves, though they usually can only get away with it if they have the tacit support of their management.)
This is why talented and energetic developers find it so crushing to be told, "Just get on with your job". It makes it clear that their relationship with the project and employer is unequal, and that any change they desire will be resisted. Which is a shame, because denying all potential change will just stop the project from maturing and improving. As well as squandering the developers' goodwill and constructive energy.