Covered Bridge: Mindful Negotiating, Deflategate, and “Louie, Louie”

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Chester County’s Covered Bridge is back at it again with some great articles from around the web. Find out how Bill Gates cooled off Steve Jobs; what the NFL has to say about Deflation; and if the FBI ever really got to the bottom of those Kingsmen lyrics.

How to Get in the Right Mindset for Tough Situations
Before Microsoft launched the first Windows Operating system, Bill Gates paid a visit to Steve Jobs. Jobs wasn’t happy. He accused Gates and Microsoft of ripping off Apple’s graphic user interface (GUI) and took Gates to town in front of an entire senior management team. Here’s what followed:

Gates didn’t yell back, though. Instead he sat calmly and offered another way of looking at the situation. “I think it’s more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox,” he said, “and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out you had already stolen it.”

Gates’ ability to remain calm and defuse the tense situation with humor is a perfect example of what researchers are calling “Emotional Intelligence”; the self-awareness that helps people identify and deal with anxiety or anger in tough situations. Gates knew that he was less emotional than Jobs and prepared to remain cool.
As a result, the two were able to continue the argument privately, resolve their differences, and maintain a sort of friendship for years to come. Read more on mindful preparation for tough situations at Harvard Business Review.
NFL Issues Report on Deflategate
The NFL has issued a 243-page report detailing their investigation that began after the New England Patriots won the AFC Championship last season. Investigators concluded that Tom Brady was most likely “at least generally aware” that 11 of the 12 Patriots’ footballs were under the official inflation standards. Read the full article over at the Chicago Tribune.
The FBI Investigates The Kingsmen
Jack Ely, lead singer for the ’60’s pop group known as The Kingsmen passed away this week. His group’s cover of the 1957 Richard Berry song “Louie, Louie” marked a clear break with the clear, lyrical crooning that defined the popular music of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. And, as The New Yorker points out, even the FBI joined in on trying to figure out exactly what Jack Ely was singing.  Read the article here. Jack Ely was 71.
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Top Photo photo credit: Pont couvert de Guthrie via photopin (license)

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