In most corporations (at those I've been involved with), the people who actually get the work done very rarely advance.

Your career is not the work you do. It's how you're perceived socially within a company structure.

This essay is actually very good: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/

My personal experience is that those who are highly skilled and add value become an immediate threat to those who are just "punching a clock". It's important to note that those people may be at any level of an organization.