Imagine you were an international star. Imagine that the news media is going crazy over allegations that you just might be a pedophile. Now imagine that the District Attorney where you live initiates legal action based on that allegation.

Here’s what you would do: First you would ask “Who was Michael Jackson’s attorney?” Someone would tell you it was Thomas Mesereau. You would say:

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“Let’s see him right away.” When you see him, after the introductions, your first question will be: “Think you can get me off?” Let’s assume you are innocent etc., his answer will be: “Yes, I feel pretty confident I can.” Your next question is: “How much?” Your question was NOT: “How much time will you have to put into it and how much do you charge per hour?” You do not care how busy he is or isn’t going to be with your case. In fact, you prefer that he can solve it in the next ten minutes versus the next 100 hours. When the issue is time in jail versus no time in jail, you care much more about the value your attorney will provide than the time he takes to provide it.

If this example makes sense in the extreme (that is, a Michael Jackson scenario), why wouldn’t it make sense in the everyday (for example, when you hire an attorney to draw-up a contract)? If it makes sense when hiring an attorney, why wouldn’t it make sense when hiring an architect or a PR firm or an accountant or consultant? In fact, it does make sense to pay for value versus time, especially when you are buying the most important differentiators of the Knowledge Economy: expertise, experience, commitment to excellence, and focus on achieving goals rather than on the time to do that.