26 Quotes About Improving Processes That Will Inspire Change

Broken, outdated, and inefficient processes can cost your team and business time and money. Unsurprisingly, improving processes can fall to the bottom of a leader’s list, as encouraging employees to undertake continuous process improvement can be a grind. It’s natural for individuals, teams, and organizations to get into a grove and find comfort in predictability, leading to complacency and possibly resistance to change.

However, for teams and organizations to thrive, they must keep an eye on improving processes. Those who do may reap the benefits of increased efficiency, a better customer experience, reduced waste and errors, and increased productivity and consistency.

Here are 26 quotes about improving processes to inspire those around you that finding incremental improvements are worthwhile and beneficial and not to fear but embrace change.

Quotes about improving processes by category:

1. To drive urgency in improving processes
2. To inspire continuous improvements for business impact
3. To overcome a fear of change
4. To show empathy that process improvement isn't always easy

To Drive Urgency in Improving Processes
Sometimes a little inspiration can give individuals and teams the push they need to take action today. Use these quotes about improving processes to drive urgency that the best time to make small, incremental changes is today.

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. - Mark Twain

Practice the philosophy of continuous improvement. Get a little bit better every single day. - Brian Tracy

Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens - when it happens, it lasts. - John Wooden

There's a way to do it better - find it. - Thomas Edison

The business changes every day, and you should be willing to change with it. You have to be with it. - Josh Barnett

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers

Continual improvement is an unending journey. - Lloyd Dobyns

Change before you have to. - Jack Welch

To Inspire Continuous Improvements for Business Impact

The big picture can get lost in a rush to complete tasks, meet immediate needs, and cross off items on to-do lists. Instead, individuals and teams should continually be reminded of the big picture, the vision for the organization, and the mission at hand. Use these continuous improvement quotes to highlight the importance of better processes, change, and the impact improvements can have on a company over the long run.

No company can afford not to move forward. It may be at the top of the heap today but at the bottom of the heap tomorrow, if it doesn’t. - James Cash Penny

Small daily, seemingly insignificant improvements and innovations lead to staggering achievements over time. - Robin Sharma

Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision, and change. - Richard Branson

An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. - Jack Welch

If you always do what you did, you’ll always get what you got. - Mirian Diamond

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence - it is to act with yesterday’s logic. - Peter Drucker

Excellent firms don't believe in excellence, only in constant improvement and constant change. - Tom Peters

If you don’t change direction, you end up where you are headed. - John Gibbons

To Overcome a Fear of Change

Help your employees overcome a resistance to change and take action to improve processes with these change management quotes to alter how they think about change. Tony Marignetti explains why a shift in mindset may be the secret in a recent Fast Company article. He said, “A great way to build a culture of adaptability is by implementing disruptive thinking. Practice new ways of looking at situations before your team faces an external challenge. This will develop their capacity for change, so they are ready to adapt.”

Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results. - Robin Sharma

Progress cannot be generated when we are satisfied with existing situations. - Taiichi Ohno

Improvement usually means doing something that we have never done before. - Shigeo Shingo

If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong. - Charles Kettering

Without change, there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable. - William Pollard

What good is an idea if it remains an idea? Try. Experiment. Iterate. Fail. Try again. Change the world. - Simon Sinek

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. - Winston Churchill

Slowness to change usually means fear of the new. - Philip Crosby

To Show Empathy that Process Improvement Isn’t Always Easy

According to recent research, empathy is the most critical leadership skill. Demonstrating empathy in leadership recognizes an employee’s struggles and point of view and engages in a conversation with the goal of understanding. Satir's Change Model highlights the importance of empathy during the "chaos" stage, where employees may feel overwhelmed and uncertain about new processes. Use these quotes to confirm you understand the difficulties of improving processes.

Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. - Steve Jobs

There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them. - Seth Godin

Conclusion: Improving Processes and Change Management Go Hand-In-Hand

Improving processes requires change. The two cannot be separated. Even if it is the right direction to go and improving processes serves the team or organization’s best interest, not everyone will openly embrace change. Using these quotes and attending training to learn how to lead change effectively will go a long way in building an agile team looking for ways to improve its processes.