Electricity is the flow of electrons. Electrons hate resistance. So given a choice between a path with no resistance and another with some resistance, all 100% of electrons choose the path with no resistance. This is called a short circuit.

Speed breakers are to vehicles what resistors are to electrons. Speed breakers are inconvenient and you need to slow down to reduce the inconvenience. Sometimes there are roads where the speed breakers don’t cover the entire width of the road. The part of the road not covered by a speed breakers is like the path offering no resistance and two-wheelers will exploit this short circuit. Skilled 4 wheeler drivers would maneuver one set of wheels in the short circuit path and another set on the speed breaker just to reduce the inconvenience.

Google Drive has a 15 GB limit. Once you hit the limit, you won’t get any more emails unless you clear your drive or pay Google for more space. Of course Google wants you to pay. But, like the short circuit option, you could create another Google drive and get another 15 GB to store your stuff and not have to pay Google. My guess is, of the people who hit the 15 GB limit, most would rather open another account than have to pay for it. Like this guy:

A few years ago, we launched a waste management program in our apartment. One of our change management strategies was to make the change inconvenient. We had demo sessions on how to segregate household waste and we gave away free waste management kits. Compliance was exceptional!

Coca Cola had a mission statement : “Within arm’s reach of desire”. What it meant was that you should find Coke anytime, anywhere. As more Coke vending machines came up, it became more convenient to find Coke and as it became more convenient to find Coke, it’s consumption went up.

Governments can use the same idea to get higher compliance on tax and traffic. Make it easier for people to do the right thing and  inconvenient to do the wrong thing. If you make it easy for drivers to drive on the correct side of the road, more drivers are likely to comply. Countries that make it easy to do business are likely to see more investments. On the other hand, countries with vague laws and red tape are like resistors where electrons hate to go.

Both electrons and humans hate inconvenience. Therefore if your business can provide a path of least resistance, you would see a lot of happy humans (or electrons).