Holiday ‘MTSU On the Record’ programs tap into creativity, comedy

The “MTSU On the Record” winter-break offerings include an entrepreneur whose invention helps him “hold it together” and a not-so-funny look at humor in the workplace.

Dr. Timothy Dunne

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Zach Dycus, founder of Kangeaux Outdoors, first aired Dec. 28 on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org). Logue’s interview with Timothy Dunne, assistant professor of management, first aired Jan. 4, on WMOT-FM.

You can listen to both conversations below.

Dycus, a former MTSU recording industry major, left his profession to devote all his energies to promoting his creation, the Kangeaux Walkabout.

Zach Dycus

The device is a patented foot-long combination of neoprene and Velcro suitable for use with either lanyards or carabiners that holds items together even during rugged outdoor activities like hiking and backpacking.

Dycus said he had put the idea on the back burner while pursuing his recording industry career until his wife encouraged him to go into development.

“My wife had been using it when we were moving, and she was using one of the original prototypes I had made,” Dycus said. “That was when she was, like, ‘You really should do something with this product.’”

Dunne, along with two colleagues, published a study in the academic journal Group & Organization Management of how humor affects supervisor-employee relations in the workplace.

The research found that regardless of whether the boss uses positive humor or negative humor to try to bond with his subordinates, the employees’ existing perceptions of the boss will determine whether that humor will be effective.

“When that’s interpreted within (the context of) a poor relationship, they might see that as very cutting or maybe passive-aggressive or maybe just simply a waste of their time, and they wish that their boss would get down to business,” Dunne said.