> Letting a thing implode that you could prevent is a missed opportunity for advancement

No matter how many times I bail out my managers it seems that my career has never really benefit from it

I've only ever received significant bumps to salary or job title by changing jobs

That means you’re not getting visibility for it. When I say “get visibility”, it means to your manager’s boss and peers.

I don't know what your experience is, but mine is the opposite. Nobody ever notices people who put out fires, and it's hard to should "hey guys! There's a fire here that John started, I'm putting it out!" without looking like a jerk for outing John.

Fewer still notice the fire-preventer.

Oh, no, neither prevent the fires not put them out. Instead, predict them, and then say "see?" when they break out.

That's a risky business, you can get the blame if you're not careful. "Why didn't you try harder if you knew this would happen" etc.

If you say "look, the stuff they're doing there is risky, you should <do thing>", and they don't do it, how can they blame you? If they do do it, then mission accomplished, no?

E.g. "the way that team builds software isn't robust enough, you should replace the leader or we'll have an incident", how can you be blamed for the incident when it happens?

You are right. I don't think the only alternative to shielding management from the consequences of their bad choices is letting things implode and going down with the ship.

yup, an employee is more than just a gear, better keep the motor running than explode along with the other parts.