Or the existence of Boeing sitting on its laurels, and not having a plan to build a new 737, or its replacement, before the neo appeared. It's not only the case

Or the existence of Boeing sitting on its laurels, and not having a plan to build a new 737, or its replacement, before the neo appeared. It's not only the case Boeing needed to react with quick & dirty. They could have been pro-active. Arguably they didn't because they're not adequately competitive. And they went with the stop gap also because they're inadequately competitive. Short cuts at every turn.