Boeing kept normalizing deviations to stay in the game whilst cutting costs (not paying the price for staying in the game). Like a man tiptoeing further out on the high diving board above an empty pool. Now they are paying the price and it's a lot more costly than it would have been had they played properly.
But it's not just Boeing. Aviation as an industry, led by the low cost carriers, is doing the exact same thing in almost all areas. How many levels of deviation has your company normalised?