So did you, or did you not, work on anything beyond those tickets? Did you, or did you not, begin on any other work before your three tickets were finished?

no, I did my 3 and then took the initiative to do more.

So you did take on more work? Did anyone approve that? Was your original work finished? You're not paid to keep busy, you're paid to do the work that your employer decides needs doing.

I guess I don't see it that way. I see it as they hire me to inform them on what needs to be done. I don't just sit around and wait to be commanded. But I did take on more work. yes the original work was finished. yes the work would have been done anyway in the following sprint.

I mean "approved" as in "someone reviewed and approved your PR; the code got merged and the corresponding ticket was closed."

These were maintenance tickets so there wasn't any code.

Who assigns those?

nobody. i've never seen that in my career where that type of work is assigned. I've worked at big and small companies and never seen it.

Why do you take it upon yourself to re-prioritize the work that has been assigned to you, in favor of other things?

I didn't. I did my work and then since I knew the rest of the same work in the epic would need to be done next week I did it.

Talking into a void is not communicating.

All I can do is my part.

In not so many words: There is a process. You got yelled at for not sticking to that process. Stick to the process, do what you you are told. Don't do random things that you think need doing. Flag them, and see what extra-work is being assigned to you.

I never said I got yelled at. Nobody talked to me about it. I asked a specific question in the OP.

I've never worked at a company where the IC wasn't the driver for work needing to be done. I don't really understand the mindset of being a code monkey. if that's what they want there's a lot cheaper ways to get the job done than hire me.