Archive | Getting the Job Done

Story telling

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On December 15, 2015

Category: Careers, Getting the Job Done, Litigation Tips, Trial Consulting, Work-Life

One of my responsibilities when helping my clients (all of whom are trial lawyers and litigators) is to suggest ways in which they can tell the story of their case, to captivate the attention of the jury, mediator, arbitrator, or judge. Almost everyone is familiar with story telling as a way of conveying information, but […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On December 15, 2015

Category: Careers, Getting the Job Done, Litigation Tips, Trial Consulting, Work-Life

Unfortunately for the characters in the very real life stories surrounding many of the cases we handle, the endings do not result in living happily ever after.  Thus, the stories told to our mock jurors are often tragic.  But, regardless of the facts of the situation, the way in which the story is told by […]

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Organize & Label The Equipment

My years working as a photographer taught me many lessons, some I learned on my own, some I learned from others. I’ve written about one of my photography mentors, Jon Peters, but he was a mentor about small business as much as anything. He also loved his label maker. He labeled everything and numbered duplicate […]

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I am an extremely organized person.  I believe one of the keys to my success is my level of organization.  I like my office to be organized, including all of the equipment I co-own with my spouse/business partner, so that it can easily be accounted for.  We take inventory of all our office supplies and […]

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Adventures

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On December 8, 2015

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

There are all kinds of adventures in life. Some adventures require travel to faraway places; others take us nearby, to places that are sometimes easily overlooked; while others happen in our back yard. I love adventures and I enjoy planning them, as well as reminiscing about them years afterward. One of the most exciting adventures […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On December 8, 2015

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

Starting with the premise that life is an adventure, the question is how adventurous do you want to be?  The boating adventure taught us a lesson in planning (and, in our boating skills which were not very strong at the time causing delays in getting underway).  But the lessons from being adventurous are a big […]

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Watch how many paper clips they buy

Building on my recent post about employees’ shopping issues, I am adding another scenario that has never faded from memory. Again, some things seem so obvious to me, but alas, they are not really obvious to everyone. Many years ago, some of our promotional materials were held together using a paperclip. Because this clip was […]

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David and I evidently harbor strong resentments against some former employees, particularly those who have wasted our time, money, or both.  I am saying this because, years later, we both remember having spent too much money for, of all things, paperclips!  Not only did we waste money on paperclips, but we also had another employee […]

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Shop price – Employees probably won’t

Having run my own photography business, mostly by myself, I co-founded Magnus with one of my roles being managing the business and staff on administrative tasks. This includes shopping to buy everything from computers, video cameras, to pens and paper. We ran Magnus without employees for a couple of years and I knew the price […]

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It is a fact of owning a small business that some employees “get it” and some do not.  When it comes to buying things, I always remind Magnus’ employees to look around at everything in the office.  Everything, that is 100% of what they see, was bought by David and me.  There is nothing, absolutely […]

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Think before you speak.

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On November 19, 2015

Category: Business Frustrations, Careers, Common Courtesy, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

Think before you speak. This is an old adage that resonates loudly when managing employees. Two examples of the failure of employees have haunted us for years. The first was with our first employee. She was caught off guard when an attorney/client asked her, after discussing Melissa’s academic background with Melissa, “What’s your background?” Mindlessly, […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On November 19, 2015

Category: Business Frustrations, Careers, Common Courtesy, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

I suppose there is a time in many girls’ and women’s lives when they dream of becoming a princess.  Unfortunately, however, few people ever realize their princess dream, such that, at some point, they are living in a fantasy world if they persist in their search for Prince Charming.  (As an aside, I have met […]

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Apologize, take ownership, fix it – say I’m sorry

Mistakes happen. In our trial consulting work, some of the tasks employees must undertake are technical and sometimes difficult. Some tasks are more routine, but nonetheless, due to inexperience, careless work efforts, or for reasons beyond anyone’s control, mistakes happen. That is a given. But, how employees react when informed about the problem varies tremendously. […]

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When did apologies cease to exist?  And, by “apology,” I don’t mean saying “Sorry” instead of “Excuse me” when bumping into someone in the grocery store.  When referring to apologies, I mean owning up to one’s mistake, taking positive steps to ensure it is corrected, and being proactive in ensuring the mistake will never happen […]

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Life goes on within you and without you

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On November 3, 2015

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

One of my favorite songs of all time is a song by George Harrison called, “Within You Without You.” For those who are not huge fans of The Beatles, this song is on side 2 of the groundbreaking album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which was released on June 1, 1967. Although this song, […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On November 3, 2015

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Work-Life

My take on this topic is similar to Melissa’s, in trying to keep a focus on where we fit as individuals in the world. We have certainly observed some clients, and occasionally employees, whose sense of self importance did not appear to match their other characteristics, including their contributions to the world. That is, they […]

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“I cry when something bad happens.” Really?

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 29, 2015

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

We have long asked prospective employees what they do when they encounter a work crisis, when something goes drastically wrong, and when the pressure is on them to fix it. Some candidates report that they have never faced a crisis; these candidates are mostly those who are interviewing for their first job. Most of us […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 29, 2015

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

As regular readers of David’s and my posts certainly know, David’s favorite band is RUSH. There is an album, released by RUSH in 1984, entitled “Grace Under Pressure.” This expression, having grace under pressure, is something that is required of everyone who works for Magnus. Inevitably, during a mock trial or other research day, something […]

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Get over it

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 27, 2015

Category: Business Frustrations, Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work

As with many things in my life, this post contains a musical reference, the title of a song by The Eagles. “Get Over It” says a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me, getting over it, whatever it may be, is an important part of moving through life in a forward […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 27, 2015

Category: Business Frustrations, Business personalities, Careers, Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work

It is not always easy for me to just “get over it.” Things that I’ve worked to “get” have not always worked out regardless of effort expended and it can be devastating for things to work out differently than I would have liked. But, the beat goes on, and we have to move on. Sometimes […]

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