I've only been in industry for 7 years. So far, the problem I've seen at my two employers have been stopping the "code-slingers" from making absolutely worthless systems that create a ton on noise in the organization, and redirecting their efforts towards long term valuable and productive ends.
From observation and induction, it seems very easy to contribute net-negative value in a software development position, and delivering long-term net positive value really requires a lot of discipline from the developers, or a lot of wrangling from non-technical members.
PS: Discipline here does not mean "being picky about what things to accept" it means being picky about what things you make up. From observation, a lot of the most valuable work is super fucking boring, and it takes discipline not to make up a more intellectually stimulating task.