We should be understanding of mediocrity, but we should never accept it as given. As an industry we need to do better -- push back on unrealistic expectations, demand the necessary resources, understand business needs and when they are unjustified.

Well said, and in my experience the best way to achieve all this is to let devs have direct contact with end users. Getting the knowledge first hand on what problem they are really trying to solve with your help, and how small tweaks here and there can make them more efficient etc. really gives most devs a sense of urgency. What is required is done, but no more since devs want to put the new version quickly into the hand of the users in the hope that they'll like it.

The complete opposite is fixed requirements specifications and many layers between devs and users. This will get expensive and easily quite mediocre when devs know they are not really building the product the end user needs since motivation so easily falters in such an environment.