Archive | Careers

Gouge

I recently learned a new term, a term that appeared in a Facebook query by a friend (Robert, you know who you are.)  The term is “gouge” – not as in price gouging or destroying someone’s eyes, but it is apparently a term originating in the U.S. Navy which originally meant “the answers to the […]

Continue Reading

I have an excellent vocabulary, however, until I read the title of David’s post, I had never heard of the word, “gouge” defined as “inside information.”  I daresay that, once I finish writing this post, I will never again use “gouge” to mean anything other than its common dictionary definitions of “chisel” or “an excessive […]

Continue Reading

Put a label on it

Though I’ve previously written about a similar topic with a post which appeared on December 10, 2015 “Organize & Label the Equipment,” recent experiences lead me to revisit the topic from a different angle. That post was about our efforts to label our equipment as ours such that it doesn’t get confused with that owned […]

Continue Reading

David’s fondness for labels, checklists, and written protocols is well known by those of us at Magnus. It seems, at least to me, that we have written documentation of almost everything we do, thus, it came as a surprise to me that, in our haste to make hurricane preparations, we overlooked anything, including the important […]

Continue Reading

Things We Can’t Charge to Clients

David’s mother, my dear mother-in-law, is such a nice, kind, compassionate person that the worst thing I have ever heard her say about someone or a situation is that he/she/it, it is “interesting.” When I say something or someone is “interesting,” I am using the word as it is typically used, to imply someone or […]

Continue Reading

Lest any client read this and think they have been charged for items #1 to 7, rest assured that, when compiling a bill, the charges are reviewed by me. I am pretty sure I’ve caught it when employees have attempted to slide something by in this regard. But, it has amazed me that these employees […]

Continue Reading

Value diversity

In a song called, “Nobody Told Me,” written by John Lennon, part of the chorus is: Nobody told me there’d be days like these Strange days indeed Most peculiar, Mama Although the song was released posthumously in 1984, its lyrics ring just as true today as when they were written. These are, indeed, strange days. […]

Continue Reading

I’m a middle aged white guy, from a pretty conservative, Baptist, upbringing and part of the world. So, my perspective on diversity might be suspect to some. But, living outside of the USA gave me a perspective that was eye opening. I was the outsider, even in a country where people spoke the same language, […]

Continue Reading

Life, and work, go on after hurricanes, personal tragedies, etc.

The idea that life goes on regardless of circumstances is an old one, and one covered in the world of entertainment – in music, on television. Sometimes it is stated as “the show must go on.” Working as a trial consultant, not entertainment, is the context of this post. Perhaps it is apropos that I’m […]

Continue Reading

Ironically, I am writing my part of this post on a day when south Florida is anxiously awaiting Hurricane Irma. At the time of this writing, we do not know where it will make landfall, however, we are going to prepare regardless of its exact location. Equally ironic is the fact that we have a […]

Continue Reading

It’s Okay to be Different

My dearly departed Mother would be happy to know all of the things she taught me have been put into practice.  I was listening to what she said, often, over and over and over, and now I find myself saying, “Mom was right!” many times.  On numerous occasions, when I would petulantly state to Mom, […]

Continue Reading

Most entrepreneurs have an “it’s okay to be different” mindset.  As entrepreneurs, doing business our own, different way is usually a part of filling a niche` or providing customized services.  So, the lesson Melissa took from her mother works to the benefit of our clients in our focus on each case as different, unique, and […]

Continue Reading

Passing the Baton

A mental concept that I utilize in our trial consulting work is one of that of passing a baton, as in a relay race. The flow of our engagements is such that we function as a team, with much of the work being done by one person at a time. Engagements usually begin with me […]

Continue Reading

I like David’s analogy of passing the baton as it relates to the work flow in our office.  David gets involved with 100% of the potential clients and 100% of these clients who become paying clients of our business.  I rarely become involved with any of our clients until we have been retained for our […]

Continue Reading

Do what you say you are going to do!

I have recently been reminded of how one simple courtesy makes a big difference. That courtesy is doing what you say. If you say you will do it, do it. If you have no intention of doing it, don’t promise. Two contrasting illustrations will make my point. First, to the positive, I was recently been […]

Continue Reading

People who make promises they fail to keep cause many problems for those who are relying on them. One of the worst things that happens in my many years of working as a trial consultant relates to recruiting research participants. The company Magnus hires to call potential research participants for our mock juries and focus […]

Continue Reading

Seed Planting

Way back in elementary school we probably all heard the story of Johnny Appleseed who went on a mission to introduce apples to various parts of the northern United States. Not only did I hear this story (which apparently is true, at least if you believe Wikipedia, however, the man’s name was Chapman, not Appleseed), […]

Continue Reading

David’s closing sentence, of course, reminds me of a song by the late, great Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode.” The lyric, “Go go. Go Johnny, go, go” has incited many dance moves, not to mention air guitar playing, and serves as a great reminder of just how far one can go in life with a […]

Continue Reading

Counting Sheep

I saw a comic in the paper this past weekend that had images of sheep. One of the sheep was the “head sheep” and told the others to “count off” – as the sheep did so, staring with sheep 1 saying “1″ – the image showed that by sheep #5, #5 had fallen asleep counting […]

Continue Reading

I am not fond of sheep or, for that matter, goats. Counting sheep as a means of inducing sleep would probably not work for me because it would conjure memories of David’s and my ill fated trip to Ireland during the height of hoof and mouth disease. There were way too many stinky sheep, as […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes