Archive | Business Frustrations

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

By now, readers of these posts know that Melissa and I often use lyrics, song titles, or music references thus, this title is borrowed from a David Bowie song. In thinking of the content for this post, I came up with several potential titles. I kept the simplest of them but also considered “Time for […]

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I am a person who thrives on change.  I dislike following the same old routine, day after day, year after year.  This being said, it amazes me that Magnus Research Consultants has been located it the same office since 1996!  That’s almost 25 years!  (Although Magnus was founded in 1993, it was based in David’s […]

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Clipped Wings

Due to recent world events, most people’s lives have changed in ways that would, previously, have been unimaginable. Although some of my retired friends and family members tell me that they stayed home, often alone, before the pandemic and thus, haven’t noticed many changes in their daily lives, the rest of us have noticed lots […]

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Melissa and I have posted much about travel for work or pleasure, including a list of places we’ve been (https://magnusinsights.com/2016/06/ive-been-everywhere/). And, we have generally enjoyed our travels.  Sure, it is tiring and stressful, but the rewards are many.  Our work requires travel to the trial venue so that our case assessments are conducted based on people […]

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Muster in an Emergency

After many, many years of doing trial consulting work all over the place, we have amassed our share of travel war stories. One detail that readers of our posts will have noted is that we try to learn from everything that happens in order to do better the next time and we try to train […]

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The concept of what it means to be a member of a team is lost on some people.  In today’s world of “it’s all about me, myself, and I” or, as George Harrison wrote, “I Me Mine,” some people are too busy thinking about maximizing their best interests to realize that other people are depending […]

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Panic codes – “Buddy”

This is the 3rd and final post about panic at the mock jury research. Things happen. Bad things. Some are technical, some may involve the client, and some may involve the mock jurors. But, there are things about which some people would panic, which are better discussed outside the presence of the clients or mock […]

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As David mentioned, we at Magnus had the privilege to work with the late Buddy Payne first, as a client, and then, upon his retirement from the practice of law, as our very own advisor.  Although Buddy passed away many years ago, his spirit is still among us, from the beautiful ring he gave me […]

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Online Mock Jury Research

Magnus Research Consultants has entered the online age and now offers Verdict Perception Research™ among our other services. Verdict Perception Research™ involves recruiting jury eligible citizens from a trial venue who watch pre-recorded presentations (arguments) made by attorneys regarding a lawsuit, then deliberate until they reach a unanimous verdict. While there are many differences between […]

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For many years, we at Magnus resisted adding online mock jury research to our repertoire, mainly for the limitations Melissa noted in her part of this post.  But, necessity drove us to explore the technology options and there were many options!  That variation was another of our hesitations in that some of what passes for […]

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Don’t panic. Fix it!

This post builds on the last post about not letting them (the client) see you panic. Don’t panic – just fix it – is a worthwhile mantra in the workplace, and in life. Panic and fear get in the way of fixing things. I was a Boy Scout long enough to learn about the need […]

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David and I share the same philosophy: Don’t panic – just fix it!  I will never, ever, forget the time when one of our long ago employees broke the toilet seat, and instead of admitting what she had done, panicked and remained silent.  Guess who was the next person to use the restroom and attempt […]

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Don’t let them see you panic

We keep a list of topics for these posts; this one was added to the list several years ago and I’m just getting around to writing about it. I preface the post with that because the incident(s) which inspired it were even longer ago and happened with former, not current, team members. The incidents usually […]

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Over the years I have been working as a trial consultant, I have had many reasons to panic.  I have also had many opportunities to observe my staff members panic.  There are numerous things that can, and do, go wrong, including things over which we have no control and things that occur from mistakes, carelessness, […]

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Dim Sum

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 22, 2020

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, RoadWarrior, Travel

First of all, I hope everyone who reads these posts has experienced the delightful meal known as dim sum! But, in the event the reader is unfamiliar with it, dim sum is often referred to as Hong Kong style brunch (although some restaurants serve it during evening hours). It involves small portions of delectable dumplings, […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 22, 2020

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research, RoadWarrior, Travel

I was introduced to dim sum by some Aussies in 1985.  A group of them took me to their favorite spot in Sydney’s Chinatown.  I think it was on George Street, but though Melissa and I found it on one of our trips to Sydney, I fear it is no longer there.  It was an […]

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We Do Our Jobs Even When Others Don’t

Recently, we at Magnus had what appeared, at first, to be a promising new business opportunity. This new opportunity was planned as a joint venture among 3 companies, including Magnus. Another company is a company that has been a long time vendor of ours, with the other company being known only to our vendor and […]

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As we write this, the fallout from this experience has continued.  There are some hurt feelings amongst all, especially those with whom we planned to partner.  But, the underlying objective we have at Magnus is to get the job done, and get it done well.  (I’d add that anything Melissa and I undertake is done […]

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Strange Days

Melissa is the Beatle fan(atic) in the family but I’m borrowing from the lyrics of her Fab 4 Fav, John Lennon, with this post. “Nobody told me there’d be days like these…” Nobody told us, because nobody (or well, only a few) imagined how 2020 would progress. So, here we are carrying on while the […]

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I’m thrilled to read David’s quote from a John Lennon song, “Nobody Told Me,” released posthumously in 1984 on the “Milk and Honey” album.  At the time the song was written (1980), John Lennon is said to have believed the world had lost its course.  John Lennon was murdered in 1980 but, had he lived […]

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