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The plant went down with a crash. Died in the traces. A redefinition of ‘power failure.’ Technicians and managers went scampering all over the facility, tinkering, thunking, tampering and trying to coax things back to life. Nothing worked, and desperation reigned. Finally the plant manager and the Chief Operating Officer admitted the solution was beyond the means and expertise of the staff. The needed a real expert—an outside consultant. So they placed a frantic call. The trouble-shooting ace said he’d pack his bag of miracles and be right there. The pro arrived and hung up his coat. He looked the situation over. He squinted his eyes in a Clint Eastwood way, then he walked into the bowels of the plant. People watched respectfully, and some held their breaths. The consultant pulled open the door of a little metal box on the side of a monstrous machine. He put out his hand, and with his right forefinger, he touched a button. The plant sprang to life. Lights came on, machines hummed, systems resumed vigorous activity. The plant manager shook his consultant’s hand. The CEO, overcome with relief, clapped him on the back. “This is wonderful,” he gushed. “What do we owe you?” “Four thousand dollars,” replied the consultant. “Four thousand dollars!” gasped the CEO. “All you did was walk over and push a little button on the side of that machine. Can you give us a breakdown?” The consultant jotted on a piece of paper and handed it to the CEO. “Pushing button: $1 Knowing which button to push: $3999″ “And if you’d known which button to push, you could have done the same thing.” Sometimes you have to be willing to pay for what people know.

Pardon my jumping in, but the lawyer in me escapes and must comment occasionally.... It isn't "process" (automated or otherwise) undertaken that determines the fees charged - it's the liability for the actions taken. Management of that risk is a function of education, continuing education, experience, and competition. The services aren't a "commodity" but are professional in nature - and that means a premium for the service due to the expectations that services provided by a professional are backed by that education and experience. Now that said, when a lawyer tries to collect a fee, clients always seem to think that if they "lose," it was because the lawyers wasn't any good, and when they "win," of course they were right and the lawyer added no value....

The poster is a breath of air. For the longest time I believe I've charged too much for my services. After all, I'm simply pushing buttons and all of my clients follow my advice explicitly. I am immediately cutting my rates by 50%. I have similar feelings about my internist who has been practicing medicine for over 40 years. Why should I have to pay for an expensive office visit for him to remove an ingrown toenail -- sounds pretty mundane to me and something she should be able to perform falling off a log backwards unless I experience anaphylactic shock from the local? I will go to the AMA website and offer up a post similar to the actuarial post just as soon as I can develop the chutzbah.

fwiw I don't have a problem with the question. There's knowing which button to push, and there might be a lot of people who know which button to push or even know of other buttons to push. Goods and services in our economy are exchanged at the rates which a willing buyer and a willing seller or provider agree, and generally, competition equalizes those prices.