Weekend Digest: The Outer Space In Style Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

SURPRISING SIGN STRESS COULD ACTUALLY MEAN
So what do you think stress at work really means? Do you consider it a threat? Well Harvard Business Review has a different take on what is stressing you, and you might find the analysis surprising.

Is stress impairing your performance at work and compromising your relationships? Changing the way you think about stress can help you turn stress into an ally and use it to improve mental agility and work performance; a report in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that physiological and cognitive benefits result from thinking of stress as “functional and adaptive” rather than a signifier of “threat.”

But HBR says, “Turning stress to your advantage is no easy task.” So how do you do it, and what are some methods?

Go to this link for a stress primer that could change your life.

AFTER SUPER BOWL DISASTER, BRONCOS ARE BECOMING ‘RESILIENT’
OK you’ve had your organizational disaster, now what do you do? After the whipping the Denver Broncos took in the last Super Bowl, Forbes reports the professional football club is by no means licking its wounds.

After a disaster, it’s the organization that deals with the time between disaster and recovery that succeeds. A resilient organization is more about fast execution of the plan, than about the plan itself.

The Denver Broncos are no exception. As Draft Day approached, the Broncos were focused on the future—and on operational resilience.

They’re using the memory of the Super Bowl for motivation. Their Hall of Fame quarterback is also using the memory to motivate himself.

Forbes says, “When an organization deals with an IT disaster —- or just a setback -— there are similar lessons to be learned. Here are three…”

‘WAL-MARTING’ THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

In a word it means “cheaper” air fares by an encroaching quagmire of foreign airline and pilot groups. CNN Money/Fortune reports, “Readers of the Washington Post may run across a full-page ad this week that implores them to ‘Deny NAI’.”

That somewhat cryptic message is part of a seven-figure ad campaign by the Air Line Pilots Association, International — the group’s latest attempt to keep Norwegian Air Shuttle, Europe’s third-largest budget carrier, from bringing its low-cost model to the United States as Norwegian Air International.

Norwegian says the “misleading” and “dishonest” campaign simply shows that American airlines and pilots are afraid of competition. But industry groups here say they’re up for more competition, so long as it doesn’t come in the form Norwegian Air wants to take: a Norwegian-named airline based in Ireland that employs Thailand-based crews through a Singaporean pilot supply company.

Michael Robbins, the Pilots Association’s director of government affairs, told Fortune, “We’re fine with competition as long as it’s on a level playing field.”

So…the skies aren’t so friendly. For the whole story, fly to this link.

HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT THE COUNTEROFFER?
Having a hard time advancing in your current career? Have you looked for other suitors and what happens if you get a bite? If so should you let your current boss know you have another offer? But wait a minute, what if it backfires?

While using another job offer to leverage a raise and negotiate a better career often works, if you’re unprepared, it’s a gamble that could backfire — and there are some career experts who advise against it completely. Here’s how to decide if it’s the next best move for you, and make it work.

To find out, click on this link from Fast Company.

MONICA LEWINSKY IS BACK
The former mistress of the 42nd President of the United States, who has largely strayed from the public eye for a decade, has come out big time.

Monica Lewinsky writes in Vanity Fair for the first time about her affair with President Clinton: “It’s time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress.” She also says: “I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened.”

I am determined to have a different ending to my story.

So why has she now chosen to go public with this sensational story due out soon from Vanity Fair, and how does she plan to set the record straight about the infamous affair that ended up bringing impeachment charges against Clinton?

Go to this link to read more.

REPUBLICAN TILLIS WINS SENATE PRIMARY IN NORTH CAROLINA
Forging to the front late against steep competition, “The establishment wing of the Republican Party scored a major victory in North Carolina Tuesday when state House Speaker Thom Tillis won the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate turning back tea party challengers who threatened to complicate the GOP’s effort to unseat Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) in a key midterm battleground,” reports the Washington Post.

“The party has triangulated pretty well so far and this was the first test,” said Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman. “Tillis and his people have worked hard to control how this plays out. But they have to be careful to not rub the base’s nose in their success.”

With more than 40 percent of the vote, Tillis avoided a runoff and now can concentrate on unseating Hagan.

For more on his victory and his chances against Hagan in one of the nation’s pivotal Senate races, go to this link.

NET NEUTRALITY AND THE FCC CHAIRMAN
POLITICO reports, “FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s controversial net neutrality proposal showed signs of fraying Wednesday, taking hits from a fellow Democratic commissioner and the nation’s leading tech companies.

After weeks of backlash, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said a scheduled May 15 vote on the plan should be delayed at least a month, while Google, Facebook and other Web giants slammed the proposal as a “grave threat to the Internet.”

Wheeler late Wednesday vowed to move forward with the vote. The plan has sparked a firestorm of criticism for allowing Internet service providers like AT&T and Verizon to charge companies for faster delivery of content.

Without Rosenworcel’s support, could Wheeler’s plan move forward with the other FCC commissioners, and why are the leading tech companies so opposed to it as well?

For more on this developing story click on this link for the latest update.

MVP KEVIN DURANT

There’s a new King of the Hill in the NBA and the player now wearing the crown plays in the midwest, not in South Beach.

Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant accepted his first MVP award with an emotional speech this past week.

The 25-year-old Durant spoke for more than 10 minutes, thanking each of his teammates individually and fighting back tears on multiple occasions.

Take a listen at this link from Sports Illustrated.

GOING TO OUTER SPACE IN STYLE WITH BOEING
Boeing has released conceptual designs for its next-generation space capsule, giving us a peek into the future of commercial space travel.

(There will be legroom.) So far, the commercial space market is still in fairytale mode — a seat on Virgin Galactic, which has yet to complete its first flight, costs $250,000.

“We are moving into a truly commercial space market and we have to consider our potential customers — beyond NASA — and what they need in a future commercial spacecraft interior,” Chris Ferguson, a director for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, said.

And what those customers can potentially expect is indeed out-of-this-world.

For a sneak-peek, travel to this link.