Consulting

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things
mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years,
he happily retired. Several years later his company contacted him
regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having - with one of
their multi-million dollar machines.

They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed,
but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer
who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer,
happy with his retirement, reluctantly took the challenge.

He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day he
marked a small x in chalk on a particular component of the machine and
proudly stated, This is where your problem is. The part was replaced
and the machine worked perfectly again.

The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service.

Accounting demanded an itemized accounting of his charges.

The engineer responded briefly:
---
One chalk mark: $1,00
Knowing where to put it: $49.999,00
---

The bill was paid in full, and the engineer never had his retirement
disturbed again.


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