When you said that is does not sound like old Boeing at all... maybe it is true. But maybe they did not want to. Sure they really messed up but maybe they got pushed there.
If you look at airlines these days and SOP they really like things like Airbus. No manual flying, do not even try to turn off A/P, flying without FD is sci-fi. Things like MPL and people who barely flew something in real life are getting in cockpits. All things like that push aircraft makers into making planes which suits companies. And Boeing has its "good old" B737 which is popular just because you can buy a new one and keep your pilots with same type rating. So they can jump from NG to MAX and back. Just the fear that abandoning B737 would put them behind and not guarantee them customers for new aircraft. Because once you can not offer just better B737 but new aircraft then Airbus comes into game.
This could be a part of this mess.