We all walked out of school with the stars in our eyes and little experience in "real-world" programming. How have your opinions on programming as a craft changed since you've gained more experience away from academia?

I've become more and more about design a la McConnell : wide use of encapsulation, quality code that gives you warm fuzzy feelings when you read it, maintainability over execution performance, etc..., whereas many of my co-workers have followed a different path of fewer middlemen layers getting in the way, code that is right out in the open and easier to locate, even if harder to read, and performance-centric designs.

What have you learned about the craft of software design which has changed the way you approach coding since leaving the academic world?