Southwest Airlines, USAA, and CarMax used to be a few of my corporate heroes. Companies that I could rely on to do the right thing, to put their customers first, and deliver outstanding experience each time. The past decade has been hard on all three.

Southwest started faltering when they merged with AirTran. A whole new crop of employees suddenly changed uniforms, but they didn’t change cultures. Instead of warm, friendly employees at every encounter, Southwest started to look and feel a lot more like their cattle-call competitors.

USAA needed to grow their membership, so they opened it up to anyone who had served honorably. A massive new pool of members rushed in the door and USAA had to staff up quickly. Phone hold times extended, employees grew more corporate, and the overachievers disappeared into thin air.

CarMax build a brand on car buying the way it should be. In a slimy business, they stood out. Their cars were better than average, cleaner than average, and backed up by a no-questions asked warranty. But they could only build so many superstores, and many smaller markets would never support that volume. So, they came up with a new small-market format store and spread far and wide. New employees missed the memo, and now they deliver overpriced cars with an underwhelming experience.

The thread that ties together these three stories is growth at the cost of fundamentals. They needed to grow, and they did, but they forgot to bring their new team members into the culture. Any bozo can run an airline, issue insurance, or sell used cars. It takes a truly great company to turn customers into raving fans. And when the great fall, it’s time for the market to go looking for new companies that act like the greats used to.