Home : The Apprentice: What I Learned from Episode Two

The Apprentice: What I Learned from Episode Two

Posted by Paul C. Quintal on 1/15/2007 at 12:33 PM
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership

Last night's episode taught important lessons about risks, responsibility and teams. But the most important lesson I took away was this:

To get to the top, you have to make decisions

Plenty of decisions were made on last night's show. Some were good, but many were bad. Let's take a closer look.

First, Michelle made a non-decision. Early in the episode, she refused to make a decision about how to price her team's swimwear line. She obviously had ideas about what those prices should have been, but she clammed up and waited for other people to make the decision for her. She apparently believed that if she never committed herself, she would avoid blame later on if her team lost. I have worked with people like her, and I bet you have too. For them, avoiding blame becomes the chief career strategy. It is a very ineffective one. People who refuse to take a stand might protect themselves from blame, but they never reach the top levels of success.

Second, Carey made a bizarre decision. Now, here was a guy who had the courage to make up his mind! Unfortunately, his mind told him to create a form-fitting pink bathing suit for men that caused his team a loss and got him fired. But for me, he was more admirable than Michelle. At least he took a stand and accepted the consequences. If he ever makes a good decision, that guy is going to move ahead.

Third, Nicole made another bad decision. She decided to appear in a bikini in her team's fashion show, alongside professional swimsuit models. As she later stated in a moment of self-praise, that took --a lot of guts.-- But it was a terrible decision that somehow got overlooked in the ebb and flow of the episode. If things had worked out differently, I could easily imagine Mr. Trump barking at her, --What made you think you could walk down that runway next to professional models? Your team lost because the buyers wouldn't buy your design . . . you're fired!-- But that never happened. Nicole was lucky. Sometimes you do dumb things and miraculously survive.

My ultimate lesson from last night . . .

Have the guts to make decisions - the wisest ones you can - and then stick to them long enough to claim the glory or endure the blame. You can't always be right as you build your success. But you can be something even better. You can be decisive.

Paul C. Quintal is Vice President of Trump University. Look for Paul's take on The Apprentice here on every Monday of this season.

Be sure to visit NBC's Apprentice Page daily to stay on top of every development in this season's --ultimate job interview.--

Paul C. Quintal is Vice President of Trump University.

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17 Comments

Posted by Ken Flowers on 01/15/2007 1:09 PM

I think both Nicole and Heidi did a poor job this week

Posted by terry on 01/15/2007 2:11 PM

i think you are totally wrong. Michelle may the right decision becuase she didnt agree or believe in what they were doing. everybody in the world knew that that bathing suit was a terrible idea. he shold not be praise for that dumb idea. that was the most stupidest idea i ever heard. he put his personal ideas ahead of the team.

Posted by Azanne Research on 01/15/2007 3:11 PM

Imagination is part of a decision making process. Although Carey's swimsuit design was a good one, the selection of fabric for it was not. Perhaps if a tag on the suit identified it as "gaywear", then the buyers would have considered it.

Michelle who seems to perceive herself as superior to the rest of the group [evident in two episodes] should have suggested a different fabric design in order to price & sell the suit. Instead she rebelled and refused to communicate her ideas, or even suggest an alternative based on her concerns. Even in the board room Michele sat stone faced giving the impression she was superior to even Mr. Trump. Not until Heidi intervened with a comment that when a person is assigned to do pricing that is their job, did Michele speak, otherwise Michele simply did not participate in professional dialogue in both episodes.

Both teams had some interesting designs and both teams fell short of really good mens swimwear. My son might buy one of them. Two people that stand out for arrogance [quite different than assertiveness] and that would be Michele and Heidi [although successful in two projects], both women would likely cause problems in a corporate situation because of their demeanor. Mr. Trump made an error in judgement on this one, Michelle should have been fired, based on the dynamics that occured prior to the fashion show and buyers choices.

Posted by Richard F. Guyon on 01/15/2007 3:44 PM

Yes, Carey did make a decision, but one that could be in the top 3 worst decisions of The Apprentice history. I'm looking forward to the twist of "Exempt from the next Challenge", and what exactly it would entail. I would guess that the loosing team will now have to compete as a split team against the other with another one sent packing from the Tent Squad. I find it so amusing how much the Tent Squad has been complaining, hard living can build your character, or show how little of that trait you posses. Lets not even start on the so called cold, I live in Canada where it will be 32 F today, one of the warmest January's I can remember, and likely I'll be outside with my jacket undone. It was a little colder last week at â€“ 30 plus with the wind chill. I really think it is time that Mr. Trump forgets the Canadian embarrassment from the other season, and really shake up the mix

Posted by William D. Harding, Jr. on 01/15/2007 4:07 PM

The thing that amazes me about "The Apprentice" more this year than any other, is that the contestants seem more like caricatures of what they think a business leader is. Frank being the most guilty of all. Professing his credentials as a leader, then whining like a little brown noser in the boardroom when it was apparent that he was headed for the door. At one point I turned the sound down on him till he stopped talking. It's also too bad that Martin, who was eventually fired didn't have access to this blog. He could have read the posting

Posted by Lea on 01/15/2007 4:22 PM

Carey should not have been fired!! I am in the fashion industry. First of all both teams designs were terribly boring. So in my opinion their were no winners.
Both teams should have taken a small moment and done better market research. Look on Trina Turks website and feel what her customers want. I dont agree with Ivankas statement when she said ,"Its not about what the consumers want but what the buyers want." Obviously buyers BUY for the end consumer and if the products dont sell the buyer gets fired. Carey seems to be an exciting creative thinker and most importantly easy to work with. If the team refused his designs he would have been ok with that. He didn't force his design on the runway. In conclusion like Tom Ford said, "People don't know what they want to wear until you tell them." I cant wait until Heidi gets fired . . .

Posted by James Beyl jr on 01/15/2007 5:09 PM

Hello,Here is a good idea for a good show. Mr.Trump should buy the t.v. show The Veiw,then go on the show and fire Rosie and the others big mouths

Posted by Marta on 01/15/2007 8:13 PM

Is it OK to disagree?

Michelle: What she was doing was refusing to be sucked down with the rest of them for a bad decision. Ok, maybe she should have made it clearer, or maybe the editing was responsible, but I think she knew that to agree with some things was poison! If you agree to things you don't believe in, in the name of "teamwork" what does THAT say about you? Ivanka was right, let the pricing people take the responsibility, not the whole team. Clearly, they were trying to lessen their own inadequacy

Posted by Ann Porter on 01/15/2007 10:54 PM

Hey Paul. I loved your comments. Things to ponder and stuff that I didn't see. Wow! Thanks.

Posted by Doreen Spallino on 01/16/2007 12:35 AM

Hi Paul, this is my first time watching In The Apprentice show, the dynamics between the two groups and also within the groups themselves are constantly evolving so every week becomes a new twist. Very interesting. However this week I think Mr. Trump fired the wrong person.

Posted by Lowery on 01/16/2007 1:22 AM

No personal agenda here - I am heterosexual and a college professor living in New York City. Mr. Trump clearly revealed homophobia in the way he reacted to Carey's bathing suit (and how he handled it with his pen), a suit that was creative that I as a heterosexual New Yorker would proudly wear (I'm sure this suit and the creativity of the team would have handily won the task if the Project Runway judges had been deciding). The "buyers" in this episode sadly reflect the conservative, uncreative and judgmental times that we are living in. When Mr. Trump said, "There are risks, and there are risks that don't work," I thought what a redundancy - risks are

Posted by Scott H. Ginsberg on 01/16/2007 2:42 AM

Every time I see the Apprentice I am always thinking to myself and out loud, what the best thing to do for each different situation and what I would say and do if I were there. I think I would be the BEST apprentice because I am a full time real estate investor that finds and closes on very profitable deals every time. I would not react like some of the people on the show who act like teens yelling at eachother. Instead I would lead them as a team together with one goal to victory, success. I would think of the most creative and sure way to make the MOST amount of MONEY for each challenge. In my life, I like calling the shots and I like to be my own boss and make my own hours. Although, working with and under Donald Trump and earning my keep with excelent income and profit, I'm sure would be outstanding and very rewarding. You've done a great job Donald with your career...you are a star. See you at the top my friend. I won't lie... I would love to hear those words coming from the Donald to me, Scott H. Ginsberg you're HIRED!!!

Posted by Larry Gessner on 01/16/2007 8:33 AM

Paul, I agree that indicission can be one of the worst things a person can do. I would have felt better if Michelle had stated that she did not feel comfortable with pricing and gave a reason. Evanka defended her in the Boardroom and I think the reason for that was that she saw something that we the audience did not. Making decissions is sometimes hard. I agree with you. When you are put on the spot, and a decission has to be made, pick a choice and stick with it. If you feel that someone else should be making that decission state so and explain why. It is not always a matter of passing the buck. Sometimes it is a matter of knowing someone else on the team can do a better job based on their experience. That is one decission that I would rather hear than nothing at all.

Posted by member1483870 on 01/19/2007 8:54 PM

Like my counterpart a few comments up, I am a professor. I have created a discussion thread in my class devoted to the show. I figured since I have been watching since day l it would be a good area to discuss business, strategies, etc. Well, my students were a bit shocked at the reward to the Playboy Mansion with the majority being female and the mention of the three girlfriends and having money. I guess if it was a regular intro class in business it would be different but this is a class in HR. We just finished employment law topics this week. Could someone clarify how Mr. Trump could have his daughter on his left and condone this?

Posted by member1447082 on 01/20/2007 2:27 AM

One thing that I find quite interesting is that the "tent" team have lost 2 times in a row while the "mansion" team are winning. What does that tell you about the influence of the environment and its effects upon your mental and emotional wellbeing. Even though the "tent" team will say they are winners, it is clear thus far that they are not behaving as such. I wonder what if all were living in the "mansion" what would be different about the show thus far. Ponder on that.

Posted by member1484747 on 01/21/2007 2:29 PM

mr.trump is not just episode two its all your show as a small business owner i feel big or small you use the small eithics love the show and you p.s. rosie is a fat slob

Posted by Rachael Sutton #1253595 on 12/07/2008 12:41 PM

I am commenting without the advantage of being able to view this episode, but the first "bad decision" was identified as Michelle who made a non-decision by not setting prices. In some circumstances, I disagree with this.

I believe a non-decision makes very good sense when you are in a leadership position - depending on what you are trying to accompllsh. First, as a leader, the power of your position, and the traits which got you that position (such as charisma, salesmanship, etc.) may influence the others, in your team, to go along with your decision - even if it isn't the best one. I'm sure Mr. Trump can relate to this experience. It is sometimes better to hold back your opinion while encouraging participation of the whole group. This isn't a sign of indecisiveness. It is a smart way to get feed back without influencing the outcome. Nobody knows all the answers, and if you aren't sure, this is also a way to get good feed back from your whole team.

I understand that in real estate acquisition, it is important to decide and act quickly or you miss the opportunity. This applies to many business situations, but I don't think this applies to all business decisions across the board. Some decisions require careful forthought and planning.

I agree it is important to be able to make decisions, but usually it is important to do your homework, and weigh the risks first. Otherwise, what you are actually describing isn't decision making but pure impulse, and that is a trait that gets people in trouble all the time. The only time I would recommend acting without thought is when acting on instinct in a survival situation, or when playing a game.

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