Archive | Business personalities

Don’t rely on memory; make lists

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On July 28, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Managing Employees

It sometimes surprises me that things I find very basic are not obvious to new hires. I know that my brain cannot possibly keep track of all I need to do such that I have long used lists. I recall being very organized in college about classes, assignments, etc., and perhaps not everyone has to […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On July 28, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Managing Employees

People vary in their memory function, just as they vary on other personal dimensions. There are some people, like me, who remember most things, in great detail and with accuracy; then, there are other people who don’t (or can’t) remember much of anything. Most people, of course, are someplace in the middle of these two […]

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Best friend(s)

Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to have many friends. In fact, due to the vast age difference between my two older brothers and me, I have friendships that have strong bonds that most people usually associate with family members. Among my friends there are a few extraordinary people whom I consider my “best […]

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Starting at the end of Melissa’s post I’ll say it is great to have her as my bestie. As we have written this blog it has been interesting to see how we have different perspectives sometimes, but have a common bond, and a perspective on life and work. I’m not sure it would be possible […]

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Fiction Imitating Life: “Vigilante Justice”

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On July 21, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Marketing your Business, Partnerships, Trial Consulting

Dr. Melissa Pigott of Magnus Research Consultants is featured as a character in a book by Dr. Linda Foley, Vigilante Justice. Dr. Foley is a social psychologist who, now retired from the University of North Florida, writes murder mysteries set in Gainesville, Florida, in and around the University of Florida. Vigilante Justice is Dr. Foley’s […]

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At the time of this writing, I have known Dr. Linda Foley for 36 years. I met her when I was a psychology graduate student at F.S.U. and she was the Chairperson of the psychology department at U.N.F. At the time I met Dr. Foley, she was well established in her career, while mine had […]

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Educating clients, without alienating them

An aspect of our trial consulting business that is sometimes difficult to address is that, as noted in other posts, we have competitors with a wide variety of qualifications, from those like us, with extensive educational backgrounds and degrees, to those with no education beyond high school. Further, some of our competitors are so uneducated […]

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The title of this post is “Educating Clients, without Alienating Them,” however, there are some clients who, in my opinion, have no hope of becoming educated about the reasons why they should hire my company over one of our unqualified competitors, such that I wish the title could be, “Alienating Clients without Educating them.” Some […]

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Hiring Expertise

A recent client encounter prompts this post.  The client was requesting what we refer to as a “proposal” for mock jury research.  She repeatedly called it a “bid” and I guess it is.  It is (unfortunately) increasingly common that clients seek competitive bids.  And, while I understand this, and do the same for some minor […]

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From the earliest days of co-owning Magnus with David, it has never been our desire to be the cheapest provider of any research or consulting service we provide. It is acceptable, in my view, to provide high quality work at a reasonable/fair price, but being the low cost bidder is not something to which I […]

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Not so hidden talents: Cat Writer’s Association

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On June 23, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Business Relationships, Careers, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

We often know our clients, our friends and our acquaintances for specific reasons. We know them through work, school, social groups or church. Unless they are very close, we often only have a 1 dimensional perspective of the person. It has been interesting to us over the years to learn more about our clients. We […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On June 23, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Business Relationships, Careers, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

I have authored and published numerous scientific articles in professional journals, including psychology journals and legal publications.  I have also co-authored and published two books related to my profession, social psychology.  Overall, these publications have earned me the respect of my colleagues and clients, but they are not what anyone would refer to as “light […]

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Be kind to old people

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On June 21, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

Even though we view ourselves in consistent ways that often do not involve seeing ourselves as participants in the aging process, time marches on and all of us get older with each passing day. With any luck at all, some of us will live to old age, while others of us will live to become […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On June 21, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

I remember when, as a teenager, a friend of my father’s celebrated his 55th birthday. I remember thinking that 55 seemed old, and that this guy didn’t look or act old. Now that I’m that age, there are days when feeling old is my new normal. But, when I was maybe 15, being 40 years […]

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Optimism is Hard Work

I recently attended a 99th birthday celebration for a wonderful woman who has blazed trails her entire life. Her name is Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne; she is Chancellor Emeritus of Jacksonville University, my alma mater. I have written about Fran in the past, probably more than once. But, a point made during the celebration of […]

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My late mother, who lived until the age of 93, frequently said, “You can choose to be happy or you can choose not to be happy.”  She also had a scrap of paper, attached to her refrigerator door, on which she had written, “I am alive. Life is good. God is with me. I am […]

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Are our Posts Negative? It is a matter of perspective.

Someone mentioned to me recently that, based on reading our posts, it seems like Melissa and I have had lots of negative experiences. My friend mentioned this out of a concern that it might reflect poorly on us that we have these difficulties. I see her point, but, in discussions with other small business owners, […]

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No one has ever accused me of being a Pollyanna. (For those readers who don’t know the meaning of this expression, it means someone who thinks good things will always happen and finds something good in all experiences. It originated in 1913, in a novel of the same name by Eleanor Porter.) I believe some […]

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Be nice to the Assistants and Associates

When we work with a trial team our client is the lead attorney. Though we own the company, we know the lead attorney is our boss, at least as far as that case is concerned. And, that boss is almost always the boss of many other people. Some trial teams have lots of lawyers, paralegals, […]

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I have never understood why some people have only enough niceness and courtesy to bestow on the people at “the top,” leaving none for the rest of those with whom they interact.  It is not the case, in my opinion, that there is a finite quantity of pleasant emotions, such that they have to be […]

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