Archive | Giving Back

Whistleblowing isn’t easy

Much has been in the news lately about people blowing whistles on allegations of corruption and abuse. Without discussing these specific situations, I want to address the act of sounding an alarm, or blowing a whistle. I have written something on this previously, but it warrants revisiting. I will start by saying that, if you […]

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To the uninitiated, whistle blower means the same thing as tattletale.  In fact, dictionary definitions of both terms list them as synonyms, along with others, such as betrayer, informant, nark, rat fink, and snitch.  In my view, there are different circumstances that lead to the characterization of people who “tell on” others.  For example, in […]

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Pro bono work – why do it

In the almost 30 years David and I have owned and operated Magnus Research Consultants, we have been privileged to work on several high profile pro bono cases. Pro bono means “for the public good” and it is usually performed by attorneys for free, that is, at no cost to their clients. Many lawyers are […]

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The pro bono cases on which we’ve worked have been some of the most personally rewarding cases we have handled.  While the intellectual rewards of the work we do are often felt, in these cases, it has been something special.  The cases have been unique, cases with questions no one has had to answer previously, […]

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The Joy of Photography, Part 2

Picking up where I left off about the joy of photography, there are at least 2 more, somewhat related, primary sources of joy in photography. The first is in taking the photos. As an aside, it is interesting to me that different terms are used for this part of photography – “taking a photograph” and […]

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Recently, David and I went on a “dream vacation” to Great Britain, the land of The Beatles, with two longtime friends.  All of us shared photos with each other, resulting in over 10,000 photos among us!  While David took professional quality photos with real (and real expensive) cameras, the rest of us busied ourselves taking […]

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The Joy of Photography, Part 1

Many people know that, in addition to working as a trial consultant, I am a professional photographer. During college, and afterwards for about 5 years, this was my full time occupation. After that 5 years, I returned to graduate school, finished my M.S. degree and got into the trial consulting world; as I have told […]

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David’s photographs are lovely!  Indeed, he has brought joy to many people over the years with his beautiful images of their lives.  When people appreciate his generosity in sharing his photos, it is wonderful.  There are, thankfully, more people like Debbie who thank him for going to great lengths to send them photos than others […]

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My job is to help people

Sometimes, when I am asked what I do for a living, I answer, “I help people.” Although the details of my job description have changed over the years, my entire career has been devoted to helping people. In my job as Director of Marketing Research at a large hospital, I was tasked with helping improve […]

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A client called for help this week.  He faces a unexpected challenge of a case that he didn’t think would get to trial – then the judge set a trial date.  With a trial looming, and some extra challenges on the part of his client, he called.  It helped that he is a regular reader […]

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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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Same as it Never Was

With apologies in advance to David Byrne and others who wrote the song Same as it Ever Was, and which I recently heard, I was prompted to change “ever” to “never” for this post. Better stated, perhaps in the context of this post, it is perhaps Sane as it Never Was. As has been written […]

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Everyone experiences dementia, and other psychological maladies, differently. In addition, families and friends of people with psychological problems react to the changes in their loved one’s behavior in their own, unique, ways. There are no two people who are alike and this truism applies to coping with mental health issues in oneself and one’s family. […]

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Chris’ Dad

This morning I learned of the death of the father of one of Melissa’s lifelong friends. Chris and Melissa have known each other since childhood. Melissa provided guidance to Chris in recent years as he and his family dealt with health and end of life issues related to his father. These included those issues related […]

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The power of human touch cannot be underestimated. Pioneering psychological research, conducted by Dr. Harry Harlow and his colleagues, beginning in the 1930s, established that physical contact is an essential part of human development. Although Dr. Harlow’s studies were primarily focused on the establishment of a bond between mothers and their offspring, it is well […]

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Freed to Run

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 21, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

That’s Mike Freed, client, friend, and fellow alumnus of Jacksonville University. We’re proud to boast about his efforts to raise awareness and funds for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. His first marathon of marathons (6 days, 1 marathon per day, from Tallahassee to Jacksonville along U.S. 90) garnered attention. His 2.0 version in 2018 included teams […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 21, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

Congratulations to Mike Freed! David and I are proud to know such a wonderful person. I know a lot of people who jog, who are marathon runners, and who run various other types of races (including mud runs), however, I have never known anyone, other than Mike Freed, who has found a creative way to […]

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