Archive | Getting Through Life and Work

A scientist’s experience of the paranormal

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On August 13, 2019

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Psychology

I am a scientist and, as a scientist, I prefer to base my decisions on data and other provable information. However, there are some things that cannot be explained by logic, science, or anything else; they remain mysteries. As I write this post at a time near the 10 year anniversary of my mother’s death, […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On August 13, 2019

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Growing Old is Not for Sissies, Life Outside of Work, Psychology

I was just thinking of this event recently, before reading what Melissa wrote about that night. I, too, am very glad that we were all together when Leola turned out the lights in that I don’t think the experience would have otherwise been believable. She was not connected to any machines, so there was nothing […]

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Do the Right Thing

Do the right thing. It seems both easy and obvious, but it has been my experience that doing the right thing is, for many people, neither easy nor obvious. David and I have recently experienced the passing of several people we know. One person was a dear friend for many years; one was the step-father […]

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I find it surprising that doing the right thing doesn’t come naturally to everyone. This surprise makes me realize that my parents taught some fundamental concepts to my brothers and me which transcend many situations. The right things Melissa described just seemed “necessary” to us – we did them knowing that the thing we did […]

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Strangers always talk to me

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On July 16, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Life Outside of Work, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Work-Life

There is something about me that makes strangers talk to me. I can be just about anywhere, minding my own business, not making eye contact with anyone, when, all of a sudden, someone strikes up a conversation with me. I recently had lunch with a client and, when we were leaving the restaurant and walking […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On July 16, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Life Outside of Work, Psychology, Trial Consultants, Work-Life

I’ve seen this happen, including the Santa incident in Sydney. He had with him Mrs. Santa, and a human size Christmas tree, but it was the “Bad Santa” who paused in greeting people in the market we were visiting to make suggestive comments to Melissa. Another incident I will never forget was a long time […]

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Confirmation Bias, Part 1

I read an article recently about confirmation bias and how it negatively impacts social science research and progress. Confirmation bias is “the tendency to seek, interpret, and create information in ways that verify existing beliefs.” (Brehm & Kassin, Social Psychology, 1989. Which is, coincidentally, a textbook for which Melissa co-authored the Instructor’s Manual and Study […]

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David’s post is interesting to me in two regards. First, it is interesting that David, and not I, chose a topic related to my background as a social psychologist. Second, it is interesting that David focused his post on confirmation bias in social science research. Recently, the media have frequently mentioned confirmation bias, as if […]

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Dress for Success

In the 1980s, “Dress for Success” was in vogue for people (although, it seems, primarily women) who wanted to achieve status in the world of business. There were books about how to dress for success, as well as seminars and other related products. My (then) employer enrolled me, along with other female executives, in a […]

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Reflecting on the attire of past job candidates who showed their inability to dress for success at their interviews is telling. There was the heavyset young man who showed up for his job interview wearing a shirt (partly untucked), tie and dress slacks, sweating profusely. Okay, it is Florida, and it was hot, but the […]

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Can Do

“Can Do” is one of my mantras. I adopted it from Claudia Taylor Johnson, more commonly known as “Lady Bird” Johnson, the wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Lady Bird Johnson was our First Lady from 1963 to 1969. On her desk was a paperweight with the “Can Do” motto on it, to signify that […]

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It is refreshing when the can do attitude is demonstrated by a stranger, a store clerk, a server in a restaurant, and of course, an employee. I was once complimented by a customer to whom I was selling a camera in a retail setting. I didn’t think I was doing anything special, but he noticed, […]

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Be the Solution

One of the television shows Melissa and I watch is “NCIS.” The story line in a recent episode involved a young man telling about his father, who had died in another episode. The young man said that, before he died, his father attempted to teach him to “be the solution.” That is, don’t be the […]

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“Be the solution” is similar to “Be the change you want to see in the world” (with the latter saying commonly misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi, who, according to multiple sources, never said anything of the sort). The idea behind both of these statements is that, for positive change to occur, one must be an active […]

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First impressions (do matter)

First impressions matter. They really do! Social psychologists who study impression formation and cognitive psychologists who study presentation order effects, such as the primacy effect, agree that information presented early has a greater impact than information presented later. Impression formation has been heavily researched in social psychology since the 1940s, when Solomon Asch conducted a […]

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In thinking about what to write for this post I immediately had a flashback to a time Melissa and I were scheduled to interview a young man who had recently graduated with a master’s degree in psychology and had a wealthy family background. I guess stereotypes were working in his favor, that is, until he […]

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Small Business Ownership: Always On

One of the things I do when writing a blog post is to categorize it so that one can search for similar topics on our website. The list of categories has grown over time but has always included #WorkLife. Work Life is usually followed by “balance” as in work/life balance, meaning how to manage one’s […]

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Owning a small business is not for the faint of heart. Owning a small business with one’s spouse is only for the heartiest of individuals. David and I are fortunate, in that our jobs within our company do not overlap. David has expertise in many areas, such as business management, finances, accounting, etc. that I […]

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Talk to the mailman – he could be a Beatles fan

Magnus has been headquartered in the same office since 1996. Over the years, we have had a variety of letter carriers, including some who were very nice and others, who were not so nice. I rarely see the letter carrier, due to the location of my office out of sight of our office’s entrance. Once […]

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It is easy in life to overlook others as we go about our daily business. But, one never knows where they will meet a friend or make a useful connection. Perhaps with the mailman, or the landscapers, or any other similar service provider, it is easy to ignore them as we go about being busy. […]

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