Completely agreed here. Being in a development role, I have learned equal amounts about the specific area I am working in now as I have learned about SQL Server since I started my new position in July of 2008. The business users talk in their own language and if you don't learn it yourself, you won't be thriving, and certainly won't be able to ask that "right question" that allows whatever you're creating to add value rather than bandaid a problem.

Thinking of times when I have had to troubleshoot or fix a system that is broken, I have relied on basically no industry knowledge and it's all just tech.