If there are so many great local creameries around why then do you have Kraft and Mars products dominating most of the US stores? Oh I can answer that, it's because the US is a corporatocracy that only cares about profits.
That someone is even pointing this out should give most people in the US a cause for concern. Sadly most people in the US have no idea what real cheese or chocolate actually tastes like.
"I’m decent at figuring things out ad-hoc, but that counts for nothing."
That counts for a lot. You shouldn't discount it. Some of the best programmers I every worked with didn't have a degree. However, having said that you need the passion for it. I'm assuming you still like tech, since you are posting on HN?
If you do want to give software a try again, maybe try working on an open source project. Most projects need all kinds of things besides programming. Writing tutorials for example or other developer advocate type things can lead to a different career.
Are you talking about money or fame? Honestly, I think most folks who work in open source are either funded by some sort of start up or they are independently wealthy and can spend time working on projects that "interests them".
However having said this, I do think that contributing to an OSS project is a great way to get a job in the "real world". <--- whatever that means.
I guess it depends on what you mean by "getting you ahead". It takes a mature and confident organization to implement this type of strategy for sure and allowing people, who are not managers, to make some of the strategic decisions.
Definitely, but the point is that technical people shouldn't feel like they need to take the managerial route to "get ahead". In the same vein, managers should become managers because they are good at managing people and not because they are the smartest people in the room.
This is a re-invention of the wheel. Many companies in the past had non-managerial career paths for technical people, and for some reason this fact, along with many other things, becomes "an innovation" by the current generation.