Archive | Psychology

Dr. Jack Snell

There are some amazing people in the world who, if we are lucky, we get to meet along the journey of life. I was thinking about one of them recently when I went to my family’s church of 60+ years in Jacksonville for Mom’s funeral. Mom worked at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church (HABC) for about […]

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Thanks to David, I, too, have met 2 people who were self actualizers, Dr. Jack Snell and Dr. Fran Kinne.  Although most people have heard the term, “self actualization,” which is defined as the highest level of psychological development, in which a person’s full potential is achieved, few people have been fortunate enough to meet […]

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Why be Snarky?

Why be snarky when being snarky is unnecessary, particularly in the business world? One of Magnus vendors is a company with whom we interact on a frequent basis. The principal of this company, which will remain nameless, uses the most insulting tone imaginable when writing emails to me, the client. This person never misses the […]

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Any human to human interaction involves personalities, of course.  Most of the time one doesn’t give that much thought unless there is something that causes friction, something that isn’t comfortable.  Snarky or snide comments are one of those things.  It seems like the “snarker” is just picking, for whatever reason, at minor details.  Life and […]

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Choose not to decide

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” This is a line from the RUSH song Freewill (on 1980’s Permanent Waves album). That line has stuck with me since I first heard it. Perhaps, in keeping with a few recent posts on ghosting, different directions, etc., but first, in my career […]

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Indecision is something that is not part of my personality.  I like to get it done, move forward, press on, and go onward and upward.  People who stare, seemingly endlessly, at a restaurant menu because they can’t decide what to eat are near the top of my pet peeves list.  It’s really not that important: […]

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Tribute to Willy

I am writing this on March 3, 2021, one of the saddest days in the long history of Magnus Research Consultants. Last night, our beloved office dog, Willy, passed away of a brain tumor. Willy was the dog of David’s and my wonderful employee and friend, Megan. For the past 7 years, Willy worked in […]

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As you can tell, this dog, Willy, was truly hu(mans) best friend.  Willy and Megan were tight – she trained him well.  And, he trained her well also.  She communicated with him in his language – she knew what he was trying to tell her.  Usually things like, pay attention to me, feed me, walk […]

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Designated Hug Time

One of our categories for our posts is Work Life, usually said as “work life balance.” Especially when operating a small family run, or mom & pop business, there are additional stresses in the running of that business which would not be present otherwise. Considering that families who work together spend almost 24 hours a […]

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Well, it’s about time David wrote this post!  We keep a list of topics and this topic is David’s #134, meaning it has been on his list of things to write about for a long time.  I have been eager for David to write about our DHTs because this topic is one of the easiest […]

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Carole’s rock collection

The recent passing of David’s dear mother, Carole, has brought to the surface many fond memories of her. In preparing for her memorial service, David’s brother, Dale, asked me to review the beautiful eulogy he wrote. In addition, David asked me to send some of my favorite stories about his mother to the pastor who […]

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I will admit that I was not thrilled about loading and unloading a couple hundred rocks, but it was clear that the rocks were meaningful to Mom and Melissa and I had a great place to put them, so off to U-Haul I went.  When my parents downsized, or rather, each time they downsized, we […]

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Party Hats

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On February 9, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Mental Health, Psychology, Work-Life

Party hats! Party hats say “PARTY!” like nothing else does. In fact, party hats are essential for turning a boring celebration into something fun. Recently, my eldest brother, Park, celebrated a milestone birthday and most of our family came together to attend his party. Park’s youngest son, Slade, and I spent many hours on the […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On February 9, 2021

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Mental Health, Psychology, Work-Life

I’m not particularly fond of conical paper hats, aka party hats, but I certainly don’t want to be a party pooper.  It is interesting to me that such things as party hats are a shared aspect of celebrations across cultures.  There are probably anthropologists or sociologists who study such things.  And, while I haven’t really […]

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Ok Boomer

I have written in previous posts about my experiences with sexism, including the bias that has been expressed toward me as a female bass guitar player. As I have stated, sexism is alive, but not well. I have also mentioned social psychological research on racism and racial prejudice and the negative impact these forms of […]

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It is interesting to think about “Ok Boomer” in the concept of discrimination.  Certainly, sometimes it is said in a joking way, light heartedly, but there is an underlying dismissal of the boomer in saying it no matter how funny the speaker thinks it is.  And, of course, sometimes it is not said in jest.  […]

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Say “Thank you!”

David and I have written about gratitude in previous posts. Some people are quick to say, “Thank you” when someone gives them a gift or does something nice, while other people rarely, if ever, show their appreciation. This post is prompted by a recent experience with someone with whom I have been acquainted for many […]

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I recall a fairly regular cause for a letter to “Dear Abby” or “Ann Landers” was the complaint that grandchildren never wrote thank you notes.  My Mom drilled that into me by buying special stationery to use for just such occasions.  And, doing so timely was expected.  It was always a bit difficult to me […]

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Chris

Hooray for Chris! Chris is Chris Cochran, my dear friend since 1967. I still remember the day Chris and I met, in my back yard, by my trampoline, in the summer of 1967. Thank you, Roger, for introducing us! Chris was my neighbor for a few, all too short, years. One of our first bonding […]

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I’ve met many of Melissa’s friends over the decades we’ve been together, but I think Chris was one of the first ones I’ve met.  We got off to a good start when we me.  Though he and Melissa had known each other for many years, he seemed very familiar to me.  Lots of shared interests […]

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