I work for a developer that makes software for medium to large companies. Once the company switches over to our software, their business is almost entirely dependent upon its maintenance. When I first start implementing, the company will appoint one of its employees to be trained by me on the workings of the entire system, then that employee teaches others at the company the specific things that they need to know. The person that I train is often the only one at the company that knows the entire system.

90% of the time, the person I end up training is reluctant to learn the system. They see it as a burden. It's not part of their regularly scheduled workday so they bitch and moan and do the bare minimum amount of work to stay out of trouble. When I meet with management and tell them that we're going nowhere, the complainer is more than happy to step away from the project and let someone else take over.

I used to think that was just normal, and didn't fault them at all for disliking new work responsibilities. If old me was given an increased workload, I would have moped like a little bitch about it too.

Being content in our mediocrity, we tend to see opportunities as burdens.

These people are being offered a position of power and are too plugged in to see it. They know that their company will be totally reliant on this system, and that they are in a position to become the sole party at the company who is able to maintain that system. From a position of job security, salary negotiation, and just simple respect, this is an opportunity that most people will never get. Yet comfort dictates that they stick with what they know and reject the new position.

Don't fall into the trap of "good enough". Every burden should be re-examined to see if there are gains to be made from shouldering it, and if there are, see it for what it is: an opportunity for improvement. Every opportunity for improvement should be acted upon with your full effort.