Imagine you’re on that ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. An iceberg rips through the hull, and the ship is going down. There are more passengers than lifeboats. Decisions must be made—tough decisions about who will live and who will surely die.
Now imagine a crew member pushing some people overboard in order to open up a spot for themselves in an awaiting lifeboat.
Would you deem them a morally bankrupt, narcissistic degenerate? I feel sure you would. But what’s the sin here? That person was just looking out for themselves. Isn’t that okay? Shouldn’t people do what’s best for themselves? If not, why? Is it because they harmed others by doing it? Is it worse because they were a crew member?
This self-interested, me-before-you behavior is reprehensible and can be seen as one of, if not the, most harmful things humans do.
Similarly, this same self-interested, we-before-others behavior is equally, if not more, reprehensible in the business world.
Consider Toyota and how they covered up issues contributing to sticky accelerators, even though people had died. They only took action when federal criminal investigations began.
How about airlines and the 737 Max plane? Even though several planes had crashed, killing hundreds, it took a government mandate to ground those planes. The airlines put profit over safety until push came to shove.
While these are highly egregious examples of business self-interest, there are smaller ones that happen regularly. Think of the airline, Ryanair, charging people to print a boarding pass. Think of internet providers who give customers the runaround when trying to cancel their service. Think of the number of times companies make simple things like getting refunds or credits exceedingly difficult in hopes that customers will give up so the money will stay in the company’s bank.
It’s all just throwing customers overboard to open up a spot in the lifeboat. It’s self-interested indifference and arguably the chief reason customer experiences stink. If you think about it, just about every bad part of customer journeys can be traced back to some version of a business putting its own well-being ahead of the customer’s well-being.
Ironically, though, customers have become somewhat numb to this. So many businesses behave like this on a regular basis that customers have, unfortunately, begun giving them a conciliatory it’s-not-personal-it’s-just-business pass.
So, what can be done?
Well, one of the most impactful actions would be for customers to stop supporting self-centered companies, which would make change happen quite quickly. However, I am realistic in the knowledge that this is unlikely. So, I want to speak to forward-thinking business leaders of both small and large enterprises. If this is you, listen up.
While so many businesses go about clearing their own path to safety, this is a chance for your organization to be the proverbial purple cow that stands out as remarkable and noteworthy. You could be the new kid on the block that everyone is talking about. And why? Because you don’t stoop low. You take the high road and put the well-being of those you serve ahead of your own. You have integrity. You do the right thing, even when it is hard.
The question is, do you see the opportunity, and if so, are you willing to do the hard work of having a moral compass?
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Neal Woodson 
Totally urgent message, Neal. Agree, it’s hard to see how citizen action provokes change given what we know about how little corporate leaders are exposed to real people that buy their stuff. Yet CEO’s are also people, so how do we get a new song into their heads? Do we have case studies to offer? Who is talking to the many coaches, influencers, and Wall Street analysts that CEO’s pay attention to? Does focused abstinence at scale work, i.e., what if we didn’t patronage that famous coffee chain at locations where they actively suppress union organizing activities? Are community organizers also motivated in along the lines your essay suggests? Action beckons us from our places of comfort, we need only heed the call. As the protagonist of Parable of the Sower points out, what if nothing we do changes anything? Then build something new, starting today.
Neal, this is a terrific piece—really thoughtful, and the point you’re making lands in a way that’s hard to ignore.
That Titanic analogy stays with you because it strips everything down to the human level. And I think you’re absolutely right—what makes this so troubling in business isn’t just the behavior itself, it’s how easily it becomes normalized and even justified.
From where I sit, so many of the challenges we see in customer experience trace back to exactly what you’re describing: systems and decisions that quietly prioritize the organization at the expense of the people it serves.
What I appreciate most about your post is that you don’t just call it out—you point to the opportunity. There is a different path, but it requires intention and, as you said, a real moral compass.
Really well said.