When People Don’t Learn Because They Never Wanted To

Marcus D. Taylor, MBA
Nov 23
4 min read

A man stands at a fork in a dirt road, facing two wooden signs pointing in opposite directions. One sign reads “Integrity” and the other reads “Comfort,” visually representing a choice between accountability and self-preservation. — Choosing between Integrity and Comfort is the moment character shows itself.

There’s a phrase I hear often:

“When will these people learn?”But a more honest question is: “When have they ever shown a desire to?”

In my experience, most people don’t fail to learn because they lack information. They refuse to learn because they lack the willingness. They avoid accountability the moment it threatens their comfort. Yet they speak boldly once the damage is done and their actions come to light. I’ve watched people stay silent through wrongdoing, only to gain “courage” after the truth surfaces and they can shift blame onto someone else.

This pattern isn’t rare. It’s common across workplaces, organizations, ministries, chapters, committees, and even families. People act one way when they believe no one is watching, and transform into experts on integrity once the consequences arrive. That’s not accountability. That’s survival.

Below is what I’ve learned through years of leadership, organizational work, and simple observation.

Small Wrongs Lead to Bigger Wrongs

People assume that unethical behavior happens in one dramatic moment. But most of the time, it starts with something small. A minor violation. A quiet manipulation. A corner cut because “nobody will notice.”

Psychology calls this the Foot-in-the-Door effect, which shows that once a person accepts a small step, they’re more likely to take a bigger step next time. In ethics, it works the same way. If someone gets away with a small wrong, it becomes easier to do something bigger.

Organizations call this the Normalization of Deviance. NASA learned this painfully after the Challenger explosion. A small rule broken once became a rule broken twice, then eventually a standard that no longer felt like a standard. That same pattern shows up everywhere, not just in engineering.

Every time a person gets away with something, their brain registers it as success. The thrill becomes confidence. The confidence becomes arrogance. And arrogance convinces them that accountability is for everyone else.

Why Some People Never Change

People love the idea of integrity until it affects them. Then the rules suddenly become “flexible.” Many individuals don’t avoid accountability because they don’t understand it. They avoid it because accountability requires discomfort, ownership, humility, and honesty.

Here’s the reality:

People rarely admit wrongdoing while benefiting from it.
People often stay quiet because speaking up costs them something.
People pretend to forget information that could incriminate them.
People minimize their actions to keep their image intact.
People treat training, licensing, and compliance as check-the-box exercises.

After the wrongdoing is exposed, now they want to “tell the truth.”Now they want to “cooperate.”Now they want to “share what they knew.”

But learning after you’ve been caught is not learning.

It’s damage control.

Getting Away With Wrong Behavior Is Its Own Reward

One of the worst things you can do for someone with poor character is let them succeed through wrongdoing. Not only does it reinforce the behavior, but it teaches them that: