Archive | Careers

Keep in Touch: Not out of Sight out of Mind

In a recent post, I mentioned my year of graduate studies overseas.  On a Rotary Foundation Scholarship, I attended the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.  The year was 1985 and communications were not then what they are today.  This was before fax machines were common, […]

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As long term readers of David’s and my posts know, we are the type of people who have lots of friends. Having lots of friends, old and new, requires effort. As my late Mother used to say, “To make a friend, you have to be a friend.” Being a friend includes standing by one’s friends […]

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“No thanks” to Bad Clients

The older I get, the more I choose to spend time with nice people and the less time I choose to spend with mean people. My philosophy has evolved to include family members, spouses of family members, friends, spouses of friends, and clients. Even though clients, unlike the other categories of people I have listed, […]

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We are fortunate that we have encountered only a few clients who are so abusive as to be the bad ones Melissa described.  The worst one we have encountered was a scorched earth litigator, but in his world, this extended to even include everyone on his team – and to us.  But, his true self […]

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Clients are People Too

Clients are people too.  I repeat, clients are people too.  This may seem obvious to the astute reader, however, there have been many occasions on which I have had to remind my staff to treat our clients like people, instead of merely treating them like clients.  Magnus’ clients are high powered attorneys, insurance adjusters, risk […]

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On a research day it is a bit of a toss up who the most important people in the room are. The participants, i.e., mock jurors are critical to our projects. Without them we cannot do our work. But, without the clients, we have no work to do. Our support staff usually is comfortable with […]

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Soldier First

Recently, David and I were honored to attend the graduation ceremony of our dear friend, Suzanne, from the United States Army Judge Advocate (J.A.G.) training program.  Suzanne is an amazing young woman, about whom we have written in other posts, and whom we have known for her entire life.  She has excelled in everything she […]

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Melissa suggested that I read the Soldier’s Creed prior to responding to her comments about Suzanne, and I will add that I agree that Suzanne’s humanity is one of her many assets. But, as I read the Creed, I realized that it is very fitting for Suzanne, of course now, but parts of it have […]

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Get Rhythm

I cannot imagine what my life would be like without music. I am lucky to have two, very cool, older brothers who are married to my two, very cool, sisters in law. From an early age, my brother, Frank, was a huge influence on my musical development. Frank and Sandy, my sister in law who […]

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I share Melissa’s love of music, but unlike her, I’m not sure why. As a young child, I tried playing piano and guitar – neither were a “fit” for me. I had more success playing a large brass instrument, a baritone horn, once known as a euphonium. But, that didn’t last long either. Being a […]

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Cliques

I recently authored a post about poseurs. This is post is on a closely related topic, cliques. Cliques are present in almost all social groups. Social psychologists have, for decades, conducted research on in groups versus out groups and the societal roles played by these categorizations of people. Generally speaking, we humans prefer to socialize […]

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Other than being in the band, marching and concert, for much of junior and senior high, I don’t think I found myself in too many cliques.  And, I’ll report that, even within the unit of the band, there were sub cliques of those who thought they were the best of the bunch.  While I was […]

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Poseurs

We all know poseurs. Poseur is a French word derived from pose and poser and as we all know, it is used to describe someone who adopts a fake or insincere way of presenting himself/herself to others. There are all kinds of poseurs, including many politicians and celebrities, who affect their public image in ways […]

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I’m sure that Melissa and I are compatible because we share this genuine personality trait. I’ve never “gotten” or understood the poseurs – whether high school jocks or cheerleaders, or in any other context, including our current work. I know that in our current work, trial consulting, our clients have to put on a “show” […]

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Entrpreneurial Hats

I don’t wear (real) hats that often, unless I’m going to be in the sun, or in the cold weather.  I have lot of hats, a habit of collecting them picked up from my Dad.  He has quite a collection, many of them from trucking companies or manufacturers.  In fact, as a child I thought […]

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David is right: I don’t wear as many hats in owning and operating our business as he does. My job primarily consists of preparing for research projects, for example, mock trials; conducting research; preparing detailed reports containing research results and recommendations for litigation strategies; supervising our research team; selecting juries; making presentations to lawyers, insurance […]

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Self monitor – listen before speaking

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 16, 2017

Category: Careers, Common Courtesy, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Litigation Tips, Psychology

Sometimes, without intention, a theme emerges in writing these posts. Today is a case in point as I’ve written about egos and bragging. Along the way I’ve mentioned “self monitoring,” a term from psychology that Melissa can, and I’m sure will, define better than I can. My take away on describing it is one’s ability […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 16, 2017

Category: Careers, Common Courtesy, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Litigation Tips, Psychology

Self monitoring was defined in the 1970s by Dr. Mark Snyder, a social psychologist, as the degree to which an individual is aware of, and in control of, his/her self presentations. Self monitoring is a personality trait that is possessed by everyone, although in varying amounts. Just as with other personality dimensions, most people are […]

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It ain’t bragging if it’s true

The late bass player extraordinaire, Jaco Pastorius, used to introduce himself as “The world’s greatest bass player.” To anyone who took offense, he replied, “It ain’t bragging if it’s true.” I am fortunate to possess high self esteem. I know what I am good at and, just as important, I am aware of areas in […]

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Okay, for starters, Melissa does make great spaghetti, but that is not the point of this post.  The point is how to get through life when one knows they are the best at, or at least really good at, something.  It seems that, in many western cultures, being proud of one’s abilities, achievements, or possessions, […]

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