There is always at least one path of least resistance. That is less effort than any other. Partner behavior, sales focus, water, tend to flow in that direction. Most times it is also correlated with the status quo, and with our comfort zones.
When we seek to make change happen, to divert things from where they are to somewhere else, chances are it is going to need a lot of effort. Incentives, training, or perhaps bulldozers. Also, when we change things around, there may be lots of unintended consequences.
Through history, humans have successfully changed, not only the course of rivers, but sometimes even the direction, making them flow in the opposite direction. These changes never came on their own, but brought other ones with them. This is when wolves eat your chicken, your pigs eat your neighbor’s lettuce, and the runoff poisons their drinking water.
If you have to change how people do things, be prepared. Plan. Have extra resources lined up.
Nasty things can happen when we go against the current.