Why is this unique to Populism? Most forms of power or organizations in general rely on there being a problem to solve.
Not an answer but an appendix. There is common misconceptions on the definition of politics. For the masses politics means to define policies through negotiation and prioritisation. For politicians, it means something related to exert political power.
Using the power definition of politics, it still seems to me that because the ability to exert power is only given when there is a need to be solved, a (for example) plutocrat has a similar incentive not to solve problems as a populist, and would be similarly likely to not be effective. I suppose an explanation that's consistent with both perspectives is that political leaders in general are not effective.
Populism creates problems or do not solve them in order to exist. That's why there is a need to create "the enemy".
That is exactly why people tolerate to-be-dictators like the evil-mustache guy. People needs to be afraid. Populism depends on fearmongering.
This is why people like the evil-mustache German guy was able to work on his platform to have absolute powers.