How many times have you been in this scenario? 
Something's gone wrong with a system, a product, or a policy. You find this thing to be a flaw and maybe contradictory to the company's values and/or society's mores, so you find someone to talk to. Upon doing so you say something to the effect of "That isn't the way this should be" and they respond with something that basically states "That's not how things work." Which is the beginning an eternal loop of misunderstanding.
Too often, we justify the way things are with... the way things are. Another way to say, "It is what it is." and "That's just the way it is. Accept it and move on." I can't help but wonder how that someone who argues compliance because of the status quo goes on to then, years later, somehow end up explaining the same phenomena after being asked, "How could things ever be like that? How could someone (or people) think like that?" with "That's just the way it was."
It seems to me that it takes a certain amount of people steadfastly sustaining the idea of progress and change through a myriad of status quo defenders to make substantial change. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with the status quo; Yet, at the same time, there is nothing inherently right with it. The status quo is simply a name for how things are. It's gives no reason for any action. It only may give some room to say that it is currently working. Which by the way, can be an extremely low bar to set. A log works as an airplane for a short amount of time. So, if we want to be as good as can be, we must concentrate on continually improving ourselves and our systems. We must seek to raise our standards through our pursuit of how best to be, and how best to act. The greatest mental blockade we face in this endeavor is that illogical loop (using the status quo as a reason for the status quo). That's why I believe this motto hits home. Hopefully, it really reminds us that the way things are changes all the time, and that we are usually the ones to do it.