I'mma go with "its useful" to do things the hard way often enough to stay in-practice, as the hard way is both often a backup method and either the method newbies are trained on, or a differentiator between newbies who would rather let things slide when the easy way isn't working, versus motivated people worth incentivizing.

Sometimes the incentive is "not having to attend remedial training", sometimes its additional training and raise/promotion opportunities. Its worth remembering that today's hard way was often the new, easier way in the past.