Finding Expensive Problems

The consultant who makes someone's life easier will make less than the one who saves someone's life. The more expensive the client’s problem is, the more you can charge to solve it. All profit comes from risk.

Once you recognize this, the next question becomes: "How do I find expensive problems?"

The answer is simple: By asking the right questions and listening.

There's really no other way to do it. You can't manufacture huge problems out of thin air. You can't guess what goes on inside other people's minds.

And this is quite freeing. If the answer needs to come from them, there's no point in thinking harder. You can shift your entire focus into posing the right questions and attentively listening to what your clients say.

Finding larger sources of value is not about problem-solving, but discovery.