I did not do anything

I did not do anything. But, it is working/done.

There are few people who say like this regularly. Many managers feel like, "They spent 5 days to write 10 lines of code." or "They just reused the code. That's why, it took less time".

The efficient solution always take some significant time. When it is implemented, it looks like, it should have been done in 5 mins and not in 5 days.

In most of the good implementations, the time one spends for design/study/discussions/thinking etc., is much more than the time they spend for coding. Thinking of an efficient solution for 2 days and implementing it in 2 hours is common for very good developers.

Reusing is not as simple as one thinks. It would take some significant effort to understand the existing system, and how it can be used for our needs. That study takes more time. Once that is done, it looks like the developer has not done anything, whereas it was not the case.

I am always happy to work with people, who regularly say, "I have not done anything. But, it is working". Whenever say this, I understand it as, they are providing the efficient solution.