Finding the Key Conflicts in Your Story--How to Sift through all the Problems to Find the Pivot

The main reason books are rejected, according to one of my colleagues who is in the business?  Nothing happens.

The stakes in a story must always be high enough to make us care about the people, the information, the place.   

But some writers downplay conflict, protecting both readers and characters from the mess and chaos.  Ironically, this is quite d…