Author Archive | David Fauss

Traveling for Work does not mean Fun & Games

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 28, 2016

Category: Business Travel, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Travel, Trial Consulting, Work-Life

Any reader who travels extensively as part of work can skip this post because you know the realities. We travel to trial venues for mock jury research and the reality is that traveling for work is work in itself. Over the years I have had friends whose jobs do not involve travel say our job […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 28, 2016

Category: Business Travel, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Travel, Trial Consulting, Work-Life

I can’t begin to count the number of times that, upon returning home from a business trip, I have sung (loudly): “Gee, but it’s great to be back home.   Home is where I want to be.   I’ve been on the road so long my friend. And if you came along I know you […]

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If you are bored, you are boring

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 21, 2016

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel, Work-Life

I heard the statement which is the title of this post many years ago when one of “Fran’s friends” visited Jacksonville University as part of Dr. Fran Kinne’s efforts to broaden the horizons of JU students. Dr. Kinne was, at the time, the President of JU and her Rolodex (for those too young to remember, […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 21, 2016

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel, Work-Life

“I’m bored” is something I learned, from an early age, never to say to my mother.  If I made the mistake of whining or whimpering something approaching “I’m bored,” Mom would assign one or more tasks to me, most of which were undesirable, to occupy my time.  Having grown up mostly alone, due to my […]

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Traveling as a team

Like Palidin, the adventurous, “gentleman gunfighter for hire,” played by Richard Boone in the TV series from 1958 to 1963, whose calling card said, “Have Gun will Travel”, as trial consultants, we go where the action is. The action is the case; we travel to the trial venues. Members of the Magnus team have worked […]

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I met a naive young person recently who, upon learning I travel with a team of people for work purposes, remarked, “That must be great not to travel alone!”, to which I replied, “It depends on who is traveling with me.”  I have traveled far and wide in the performance of my job on behalf […]

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Disappointments

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On April 7, 2016

Category: Business Frustrations, Business personalities, Marketing your Business, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

Operating a small business is not for the faint of heart. Though some say, “its just business,” I can say it is still personal. There is a saying, life is full of disappointments. And, running a business is full of them. By definition, because an entrepreneur is taking risks, seeking business, etc., hearing “no” is […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On April 7, 2016

Category: Business Frustrations, Business personalities, Marketing your Business, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

I share David’s frustration over the ratio of proposals sent to clients versus cases for which we are retained. In fact, I have contemplated charging potential clients for their proposals, particularly those who repeatedly contact us about their cases and rarely or never retain us.  However, as much as I would like to be able […]

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Bad Employees

One of the inspirations for this blog, as has been noted previously, was the 2011 movie starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. It was a comedy about an oppressive boss and work environment that I quite enjoyed. But, I have to say, when I first heard the title, it was at a time […]

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I have been working since I was 15 years old.  In the years since I have been working, I have had my fair share of bad bosses, bad co-workers, bad subordinates, and bad employees (not to mention bad clients and bad assistants of clients).  David and I rarely forget the bad experiences we have had […]

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If you know an employee is drinking on job, tell the boss!

Many years ago we had a secretary working for us who had a secret; let’s call her “Polly.” And, the secret manifested itself in a strange way. For the first few months of her employment we had no issues. Then we started noticing that she performed okay in the morning, but not as well in […]

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Drinking alcohol on the job is never a good idea (unless one is a professional wine taster or something similar).  I have worked with many, many people over the years who were intoxicated on the job or who were experiencing the ill effects of intoxicants they consumed prior to reporting for work.  I have also […]

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Help the boss – it is why you have a job

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 17, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

Over the years we have had a few employees who failed to comprehend that Job # 1 was helping the bosses help the clients. Regardless of what we as bosses are doing, we need the employees to be “support staff.” More than 1 employee has been fixated on a task to the point that we […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 17, 2016

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

I have never understood why some employees fail to realize their only purpose is to work for their employer.  And further, I do not understand why some employees fail to realize that working for their employer means performing job duties requested by their employer.  For me, the only point of going to work is to […]

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Not your first gig; Not your first day on job

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 10, 2016

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

Everyone who works had a first day on the job. A first time to interact with customers, a first sale, a first something. For my partner and me, when new employees are hired, they are trained and they ultimately participate on their first jury research project. New employees cannot be expected to know enough from […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 10, 2016

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

Magnus Research Consultants has employed many people who are working in their first professional job following their graduation from college.  Some of our employees have worked during high school and college, while others have never been employed prior to working for Magnus.  David and I have spent considerable time over the years coaching these eager, […]

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Make ‘em look good

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 3, 2016

Category: Business Relationships, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

One aspect of our work as trial consultants is to evaluate cases so that our attorney clients learn how their case will be perceived by jurors, judges, arbitrators, or mediators. We always learn things that the attorneys and our other clients did not know or did not anticipate. The truth is, we may not have […]

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There are many ways an employee can help his/her boss look good.  In the days when I worked for a large corporation and did not perform administrative tasks, I had a secretary.  (I actually had a series of secretaries in the early days of my career, which dates back to the time when being a […]

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It’s obvious to you, it’s your company

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 25, 2016

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

In our posts we have often written about things some of our employees have said, without thinking first. Or, maybe in some instances they didn’t think enough. One such utterance was this: “It’s obvious to you; you own the company…” said in defense of an employee’s mistake when she attempted to deflect blame from herself […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 25, 2016

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

A lot of things are obvious to me when they are not obvious to other people.  There are several fundamental differences between many people and me.  Most people spend too much time: (1) being self absorbed; (2) not paying attention to their surroundings; (3) using only one of their five senses, to the exclusion of […]

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