12 Comments

Posted by: George at February 7, 2004 12:42 AM

To start, although I understand why Trump did the corporate 'reshuffling' I completely disagree with it. As a guy, I was embarrassed by the lameness of the all-guy team. But Trump should have let the women's team crush the guy team into oblivion or let the guys fight back on their own.

As far as Episode 4 was concerned, I have to confess up front that I picked Kristi to win it all. (My wife picked Ami.) Kristi had the smarts, the presentability and the requisite business background that spelled potential President of Trump Organization. Also, her perfomance in earlier episodes sold me on her prospects for being the last contestant standing.

However, her performance in Episode 4 was a jaw dropping free fall:

1) She lacked resilience: She never seemed to recover from the fact of the corporate reshuffle. In the business world, the only constant is change, so that was Strike One.

2) She lacked general leadership and management skills. Lack of decisiveness in picking a product and poor delegation led to chaotic wheel spinning. Strike Two.

3) She lacked self-confidence. Her over reliance on the emotional support of competitor/teammate Jessie demonstrated her lack of the confidence in one's own abilities which is so important in leading an organization of any kind. Strike Three.

That said, Kristi definitely has great qualities (i.e. taking responsibility for the loss) and tremendous potential; I would have loved for Trump to give her another chance the way he indulged Sam. Trump was looking for an excuse to give her another chance, but she would not even stand up for herself when he gave her openings to do so!

Her company's monetary loss and team loss notwithstanding, I think the fact that Kristi would not even defend herself from the Omorosa/Heidi onslaught was the straw that broke the camel's back for Trump. The contestants on this program are *nothing* compared to the sharks that the eventual Apprentice will have to deal with and if Kristi wouldn't even lift her head to defend herself, how could Trump trust her to negotiate on behalf of one of his companies in the real world?

Each episode is each contestant's last chance to make his/her case to be the Apprentice. Some people crack under the pressure. Some people become diamonds. Unfortunately for Kristi, this time she crumbled under the pressure. Next time and in the future, I'm sure she'll come out shining.

p.s. I can't figure out whether Jessie's betrayal of Kristi was premeditated or not. If it was, then Jessie is one Machiavellian operator! Bottom line, she is one cool customer the way she knifed Kristi in the board room after her little pep talk in Central Park with Kristi. Jessie had Kristi thinking she was a friend until the end.

Posted by: Reginald Thornton at February 7, 2004 9:48 AM

I just realized why I keep forcing myself to watch this ridiculous show every week.

      There isn't anything new since the second week; the women sell with sex and the men can't sell at all.

      There aren't any great business lessons being taught, let alone learned; the business owners probably stumbled onto a niche, and the MBAs are only skilled at executing a plan no matter how ridiculous it is.

I keep forcing myself to watch these morons because of the very valid feedback offered here (by individuals who are apparently more caring than I). The inter-contestant politics critiques ("gaming theory" for the 21st century) are interesting, but George's three criticisms of Kristi posted above are spot-on. The same could be said for the prior weeks' commentaries.

So, I'll be back for more business insight. Back here, that is. And I'll be watching the weekly case study, as well

Posted by: at February 7, 2004 7:41 PM

although the teams were reshuffled, it was still the women that won that competion. that whole shirt and ribbons ensemble was a chick thing. the male team leader had nothing to do with the win, the guys still suck. if the shuffle had not of happened, someone wearing a tie would have gone home

Posted by: Jason Michael Perry at February 8, 2004 11:32 PM

I think both teams lack the ability to plan. Regardless of the time constraints I find each team jumping the gun and offering a product with out looking at the objectives of the project.

For the last episode its obvious that a high profit margin product that could move quickly would wein. Any team could easily have developed a game that offer prizes for throwing a ball at objects (cost is low, inventory is low, and caters to tired kids at the market), face painting (low cost again, no inventory, and can easily go for $10), food and drinks (hot dogs and nachos are high profit margin and the smell attracts customers), or a service like antique apprasials for $10.

I'm also suprised by the number of folks hudded together not selling. With such a big team its easy to open another location and try to mazimize sales....

Anyway, I guess we'll see what happens next week.

Posted by: Bobbie Gossage at February 9, 2004 11:19 AM

I agree about Jessie. I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. After befriending Kristi, she trashed her in the boardroom.

Kristi (and her entire team) seemed pretty clueless from the start. And, in my opinion, selling the umbrellas from Chinatown was pretty stupid... especially since they went to one of the more expensive stores to buy them. And Heidi was just one giant ball of negativity. I never saw her lifting a finger to help. All she could do was complain. I would like to see her gone.

I agree that the mixed teams seem to work better. But people aren't done talking about the sex and gender dynamics on the show. There was a particularly interesting article on Slate the other day ("Breast for Success").

And for anyone interested, NBC is taking applications for The Apprentice 2.

Posted by: mike hofman at February 9, 2004 2:24 PM

So what were people's opinions of Nick as the team leader? I was surprised that he was as low key as he was. His comment that he relied a lot on the women because they were on a winning streak was interesting, although I wonder if he said that that day, or if it was a bit of revisionist analysis.

I have to say, too, that I was surprised when Nick, a self-described "longtime Yankees fan" seemed so besotted with George Steinbrenner, particularly since the Boss's style is so patently different than the style of leadership that Nick seems to favor.

(I also loved that, a week after Trump gave the women a speech about sexuality and business, George complimented the women on their looks 2 or 3 times.)

One key reason why Kristi was ditched went undiscussed on the show, I think. It is that she picked Troy first ("we could sell sand in a box and you get to dig for gold") That enabled Nick to pick Bill, who seems like a strong contender to win the whole thing. Bad hiring on Kristi's part.

A final note: Tina Brown was talking about the show last night on CNBC, and she said she thought it was fascinating that America was tuning in to a show about firing people at a time when the job market is relatively weak. (She also said that she, like Nadine, is transfixed by the "Hydrologics of Donald's hair.")

I wonder if that's truly the appeal. The firing part, I mean.

Posted by: Seth at February 9, 2004 7:47 PM

Until Episode 4, the male project managers acted like dictators. But, Nick was the best leader yet. He picked a first class team. He sought advice from his team, but was decisive in his action. There was no bickering on his team and his style energized everyone. And VersaCorp pounded Protege, lost money or not.

Did Jesse backstab Kristi? Jesse told her to accept responsibility for the loss, likely meaning that Jesse thought Kristi was responsible for it. So, why the surprise when she spoke the truth in the boardroom?

Kristi approached her boardroom decision poorly. Kristi shouldn't have announced Heidi as the other boardroom attendee with, "...and only because I have to pick someone else." Why bring in someone that she thinks won’t be fired? Why increase her chance of being fired from 33% to 50%?

On the other hand, Heidi was the right choice and there was a strong case against her. Nick teetered last week when he disagreed with the lame "Kwame Jackson" promotion and shut down ("Kwame Jackson" brought to you by the same guy who wanted to sell sand in a bag - I want Troy on my team if I ever wind up with a glut of Ziplocs).

Heidi was a thorn in the team's side. Troy or Kwame should have gone in as well. On a six person team, these three cylinders weren't firing. VersaCorp produced $266 per team member. Protege only produced $183 (before lost money). Say that Kristi, Jesse and Omarosa produced their $266 to match Protege. That means Troy, Kwame and Heidi averaged about $117, less than half as productive. That sounds about right based on the aired footage. (Likely, though, Omarosa underperformed as well, just not as much).

After this episode Amy, Nick and Katrina are leading the pack. Jesse and Bill are in the race. I haven't seen enough of Ereka and Tammy to decide. Omarosa's on the fence. She's not bad, but not remarkable either. Just very conventional. Troy, Kwame and Heidi have been exposed, I hope. Can't wait until next week.

Posted by: Ellen at February 9, 2004 10:49 PM

OK, I admit that I only watch CNBC in the morning, so I have no clue who Tina Brown is. Discouraged workers aside, the unemployment rate is 5.6%. Since when is this historically bad? During the Great Depression, unemployment was 5x this number, and the dot com employment rates were below what economists call full employment.

However, yes, we like to see people suffer. Why do you think that American Idol gets such great ratings during those first few weeks when everyone stinks? Even Disney sells suffering. Ever notice that someone dies in most Disney films (or lost parents e.g. Lilo and Stitch)? It's part of the formula (I'm told it all started with Alice in Wonderland - nothing controversial and flat sales).

Posted by: Ryan at February 12, 2004 11:32 AM

Hey Nadine! Nice blog. See ya!

Ryan

Posted by: Derrick at February 13, 2004 12:22 AM

Just saw Episode 5. Jessie got the boot...just desserts for betraying Kristi. So, what's up with Donald firing only people who don't "defend" themselves. With that in mind, I guess Amarosa should last a few more rounds just being her loud bitchy self.

Posted by: Nicole at February 13, 2004 4:28 AM

I too watched episode 5. Jessie's gone - not enough negotiating experience. I also agree with The Donald regarding the denial of her true feelings for Omorosa.

I think Troy is truly a contender in this competition. His negotiation skills and ability to close deals were excellent. Three times he 'rescued' negotiations tactfully, and he did so without making his team members look awful.

Omorosa's days are numbered. She should have stated the "facts" regarding her team members in the board room, just as Kwame has always done, when he's been in the board room. She personal opinions about Heidi should have never been made known. Her rudeness became more evident tonight, she's way beyond abrasiveness.

Posted by: Reginald Thornton at February 13, 2004 10:44 AM

1) I thought it was great that Trump fired Jessie, specifically for her bending over and taking it from Omarosa and for no other reason like Jessie backstabbing anyone else. Omarosa should have been fired, too, but them ain't the rules - only one goes at a time.

2) Did anyone catch the reaction of Trump's female advisor when Omarosa said she was "born to be a leader"? Leaders are made, both through their own self-training and through earning the respect of their subordinates. Maybe the reaction was because this was an about-face from Omarosa's tired story of bringing herself up from the projects to sit a couple dozen tables away from Clinton at one of his many White House photo ops that meant nothing. Maybe Omarosa really believes here own sh*t, and not her story, and that's why she behaves with others as she does.

3) My favorite part of the episode, though, was Trump ignoring his advisors' advice. If that's not just what didn't end up on the cutting room floor, I think that is the greatest lesson to take - Trump went with his instinct. All the great leaders and entertainers have this down. They trust their gut and listen to it to the point that they speak from it. The validity of his choice between Jessie and Omarosa can be argued to death, but the fact will always remain that he made a decision and acted on it.

4) What the hell is "fashion week", anyway?

Post Your Own Comments

• Home
 |
• Contact Us
 |
• About Us
 |
• Subscribe
 |
• Advertise Online
 |
• Legal Disclaimers
 |
• Media Kits
 |
• Press
 |
• Privacy Statement

Copyright © 2009 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved. Inc.com, 7 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007-2195

Mansueto Digital Network: Inc.com | FastCompany.com | IncBizNet.com | IncTechnology.com | FastCompany.tv