Indeed.
Honestly, I think both 3e and 4e (and PF, of course) put way too much importance on getting the 'right' stats. The power difference between a PC who is kinda-okay and one who is optimised is huge. Make the stats less important, and this becomes less of an issue, and things get a whole lot more flexible as a result.
Funny, I would intuitively go the other way around: make every character care about all abilities. That 18 Int for you wizard will cost you something else.
The best "fix" is probably something in between.