Author Archive | Melissa Pigott

The Destruction of Goodwill

Negativity bias has a long history of research within social psychology. Negativity bias refers to the tendency of many people to assign greater importance to negative information than positive information. Considerable research has revealed that negative adjectives and descriptions contribute more to people’s overall impressions of others than positive adjectives and descriptions. It is important […]

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Goodwill can be fleeting.  I am thinking about some other recent interactions and encounters where it has disappeared quickly.  A fast food restaurant which forgets to include the dipping sauces, or hands out sub standard (for them) food comes to mind.  Another restaurant which has great Vietnamese food but frequently gets the take out order […]

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The Middle of Everywhere

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On June 15, 2021

Category: Business Travel, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Mental Health, RoadWarrior, Travel, Work-Life

David and I recently visited Solomon’s Castle, a quirky structure built entirely of junk. It is located near, but not in, Ona, Florida, which is near Wauchula, which is near Bradenton, which is near Tampa. (I placed as many points of reference as necessary to orient those who are unfamiliar with small towns in Southwest […]

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I’ll tell you what, driving to Solomon’s Castle did seem like the middle of nowhere in that we ended up on some roads which, though paved, were very narrow and if not “nowhere,” certainly they were out in the country.  That doesn’t mean they are bad roads, or the country wasn’t pretty – it was, […]

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Happy Roofers

On the day I am writing this post, David’s and my roof is in the third day of being removed, in preparation for a new roof to be installed. Although we have been through this process in the past, in 2005, when we lost the roof on our previous house during Hurricane Wilma, our current […]

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This whole re-roofing process has been an experience. The happy roofers part makes some of it into a positive one. I’ve never seen anything like it. The energy of these guys after 12 hours in the hot sun, on a roof, is inspiring. The work is incredibly hard. The materials are heavy, and what we […]

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Hire a Great Attorney

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On June 1, 2021

Category: Business Relationships, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Small Business Success

Here is some free advice: When you, or someone close to you, is in serious trouble, legally speaking, hire a great attorney. This seems pretty straightforward, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Hiring a great lawyer is different from hiring a good lawyer, or a lawyer who advertises on the nightly […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On June 1, 2021

Category: Business Relationships, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Small Business Success

Hiring an expert, a professional of any sort, has a degree of risk.  For finding and hiring plumbers and air conditioning businesses, there are resources like Yelp and Angi (formerly known as Angie’s List).  For lawyers, doctors, and trial consultants, these resources, including review based processes, are limited, or non-existent.   In the case of hiring […]

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The Major League

My family is a baseball family. My dad, the late Park T. Pigott, Sr. played baseball, coached baseball, and generally speaking, lived much of his life for baseball. I am not usually fond of sports analogies, however, recent experiences with clients of Magnus Research Consultants have reminded me of baseball. Almost all of Magnus’ clients […]

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This minor leaguer experience was one of the strangest situations we have had in years.  We had been, to keep up with the baseball analogy, “scouted” by the end client (that is the entity/person paying our bill).  Our ability to work with the lawyer was limited until that scouting was completed.  Admittedly, this process was […]

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Holiday Inn

I wish it were possible to know the number of Holiday Inns where I have stayed and the number of nights I have stayed in them. When my parents and I traveled across the “lower 48″ states in the United States, our hotel of choice was Holiday Inn. Often, we planned our itinerary around the […]

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It has been interesting to see the world adjust to a pandemic with microscopic particles scaring us all.  Not that we are staying at hotels frequently like we did pre-pandemic, but for business and family reasons, we have, I have, traveled a little in the pandemic times.  All hotel chains are making adjustments and taking […]

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Bystander apathy

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On May 11, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Psychology

Why do some people help others in need while other people appear to ignore the suffering of another person? What factors make it likely that bystanders will intervene when a stranger is in obvious need of help, for example, while being attacked in a public place? What is the impact of other people on the […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On May 11, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Psychology

I’d like to think I’m a helper in a situation that requires it.  I certainly take the time and make the effort to call police or EMS when I witness an accident or dangerous situation.  Melissa and I have also stopped to help when we have witnessed traffic accidents.  In the instance I’m thinking of, […]

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Heuristical thinking

Biases and heuristics often, but not always, go hand in hand. While bias is attributed to the absence of reflective thought, leading to limitations in judgment, heuristics are used intentionally when making inferences. Heuristics are common sense reasoning strategies employed by laypersons. They are “shortcuts” that accelerate the decision making process. Heuristics may or may […]

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Magnus’ reports often contain a section entitled “Heuristics” and, when I’m showing our sample report to prospective clients, I usually have to explain what a heuristic is and why it is important.  I typically explain that heuristics are the ways that the jurors relate to a case – in their own language.  Whether it is […]

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Social desirability

Social desirability has important implications in jury selection. Social desirability refers to the phenomenon of saying or doing something because “everybody else” does. For example, when an attorney or a judge asks a prospective juror whether he/she can put aside all biases, predisposed beliefs, and personal feelings and instead, be an impartial judge of the […]

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Answering a question in a socially desirable way implies there is a “right” or expected answer, to some degree.  In the basic courtroom questioning of prospective jurors as to whether they “can be fair,” it is pretty obvious that one is not expected to say “no”.  Being fair is a fundamental trait that most people […]

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Teresa

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 20, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Mental Health, Work-Life

Teresa is one of the few people I’ve ever met who became one of my best friends the first time I saw her. I’m not usually outgoing or particularly friendly when I am in the presence of strangers, but for some reason, I was really drawn to Teresa. Our story goes like this: In the […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 20, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Mental Health, Work-Life

It is interesting in life that we cross paths with many people, strangers, some of whom a connection happens.  Often these connections happen without any effort as they are random occurrences.  The Melissa – Teresa connection is one of those.  It occurred at a time in life when both of them were venturing into new […]

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