The Official Apprentice Blog with comments and editorial by former Apprentice Winners and Trump University Faculty.
This Week: Persecution. Betrayal. Mutiny. And It Was Just a Typical Day at Work
I have rarely seen so much erratic behavior in just one episode of the Apprentice.
Clint, who seemed like a great colleague in earlier weeks, became a despotic leader the minute he was put in charge of his team. He shut people down and ignored their ideas. He made decisions that resulted in a very poor viral video - decisions that reflected badly on the members of his team and which could easily have ended any one of their careers.
Predictably, mutiny followed. Joan Rivers came out screaming at Clint - her own team leader - in the boardroom firing before Mr. Trump. She attacked her own boss, even before anyone knew which team had won. I don’t think that has ever happened on the show before. Usually teams put up a façade of unity before Mr. Trump until they learn that their team has lost. Then the façade crumbles, war begins, and the battles flare. But this week, Joan entered the boardroom swinging.
And then I have to point out how badly both teams bungled this week’s assignment. The executives from All explained clearly that the winning video would be targeted toward young women in their twenties, and both teams understood that. Yet they went ahead and produced videos that had nothing to do with women in their twenties.
Actually, the results were more than just misdirected. KOTU’s video, created by Clint, showed a philandering man who might have been cheating on his wife in a hotel room. Athena’s video, which was actually the better one, showed Jesse being washed by three little people (or to use the politically incorrect term, “midgets”). Early in the proceedings, Jesse said that using little people in the video would almost certainly offend the All executives. Yet he knuckled under and succumbed to the groupthink that took over his team.
Both teams got the assignment so wrong, it almost seemed that they were trying to lose. And that is just what they got. They both lost - which I don’t think has happened before on the show.
Was it Real or Unreal?
After watching this episode, a friend of mine said, “That was completely unrealistic . . . things like that don’t really happen in business.”
I do not agree. I am ready to testify that people behave just that badly in business, despite the fact that they should know better.
Very good colleagues like Clint often veer the other way the minute they get promoted. The power goes to their heads and they become dictatorial bosses.
Very capable teams like KOTU and Athena often completely mess up very simple projects. Groupthink sets in and smart people meekly agree to do stupid things.
Strong individuals like Joan go over their bosses’ heads and scream bloody murder to upper management, despite the risk of self-sabotage.
Smart people, like the people on both Athena and KOTU, cross the line and do offensive things. Like Athena, they create videos that show little people in tasteless ways. Or like KOTU, they create a video that veers toward pornography, even when they know they are doing something stupid that does not merit the risk.
So my advice is, don’t be naïve in business. Expect people in groups to behave in erratic, unsteady, neurotic ways. Don’t think that just because you are surrounded by adults, they will behave maturely.
To succeed ultimately in business, you can’t be completely caught off guard by crazy behavior. In fact, you have to anticipate it, see it, and have the steadiness to avoid getting caught up in it yourself.
Next week . . .
Clint and Joan are in a war that by rights should have ended one of their candidacies this week. Yet they both survived. That means their battle will rage on next week. I only hope that they will be on opposing teams, where their war could spur their teams to new levels of competitiveness.
Next week, we will know!
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10 Comments
But, the other team was not really hitting the target or its dirty mouth market .What a waste of great talent. Viral videos...look them up. Wave of the future? Or just dumb. Why would a brand product want their products laughed at and mis-used by stupid humor and disgustful...acts. Go to U tube porn to find that.
Dennis Rodman left a wake-up call for Mr. Trump. Setting an example inside and out of his boardroom at the celebrity apprentice. You dont want to act so foolish on national Television...but they did? And Khloe paid for it through Dennis actions. Setting the example.
We expect tough language and leadership to get that point across.
Wow...
I have to admit that Mr. Trumps reasoning for dismissing Tionne has me completely confused. I'm not sure what leadership/business lesson was to suppose to come across from telling her not to "Volunteer for Execution" .
Could you clarify please?
Thank You.
Tracie
Judy
Trump's choices at the board room were very interesting. Think that at this point in the taping, he must have been committed to Clint and Joan facing off in the finals- and wanted to keep the Joan-Melissa tension in the plot a little longer. Otherwise the choices make absolutely no sense. Think that if you are going on a show, you should watch as many of the episodes as possible- or at least look up the synopses on Wikipedia- so you know all the hidden rules. Chloe's firing makes no sense- maybe she was put on the show so she could be fired when needed. If Trump didn't know about her DUI, he is more isolated than I was in grad school. Do think it is important that he is showing the dangers of drinking on the show.
I really am afraid that Clint is ruining his career. Trace was unknown except for that silly song of his- but when people got to know him- they absolutely came to love him. People know Clint's image of the gentleman country singer and he is blowing that image with what we see in this show- dictatorial attitudes and dirty jokes. Dennis ranted about Clint's dictatorial traits and it seemed to make no sense- he might have been picking up on that earlier.
As for the double loss, it HAS happened before- Episode 4 Season 3. Also an advertising task for Dove. Trump only fired one person on that show. Guess it is hard to sell soap!
As the for work situations, they are real.
Dictatorial Bosses: When bosses act like Clint, they are often very new to the executive rank, under pressure to succeed, and facing opposition when they believe they are right. I think that bosses should bend to experience when they believe that they are right- because if someone more experienced with a particular type of client or agency thinks they are headed in the wrong direction- they are.
Smart people doing stupid things. When this happens, a strong personality that is naive has lulled the team into a false sense of security. Think that Annie and her internet search steered Athena in the wrong direction- she should have been fired for her constant pressure on the midget issue.
Going over the bosses heads. When an essential project is going south, you have to stop the process of falling off the cliff. If you can't do that, you are not strong enough to lead. Joan is a leader. In that sense, the Apprentice is not real because the time to do that is not in the board room- the time to do that is BEFORE you present a bad job to your clients. However, Joan knew that their video was totally unacceptable- she did not have to wait until the loss was announced because she knew that ALL would not accept the product they produced.
Doing offensive things. Unfortunately, this is real- especially when someone thinks it is part of building morale at meetings. For an institution to grow, this kind of action needs to be nipped in the bud. Most people are not amused by this kind of talk. Jokes are one thing but keep it clean and politically correct in the work place. You get a better quality of employee when you seek never to offend.
It is amazing how much there is to write about here. Sean, you have done of good job of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse with your incisive comments.
It would take too long to list my own perceptions of the many poor decisions made by the project managers of both teams. But I couldn't agree more with everyone's assessments of Clint Black's terrible performance as Project Manager, which predictably led to his team's losing. His "joke" was offensive and moronic, in addition to not even being funny, yet to my amazement, he insisted on building the entire video around it. Despot and dictator were very accurate descriptions of his personality once he became the PM, the term tyrant also applies. Joan Rivers was the only person to stand up to him, and I certainly didn't blame her for doing so. She knew a potential train wreck when she saw one coming, and I highly commend her for speaking up and trying to warn him.
That being said, I felt Athena's efforts weren't that much better either, just marginally. Why they chose to use midgets instead of real CHILDREN was beyond me. Both teams were clueless who the target audience was, even though it had been explained to them by the All executives at the meetings. "Young women with children" isn't that hard to understand, so why didn't they?
Mr. Trump often asks the question, "if you were me, who would you fire?" My response would have been "Khloe AND Clint, even though they are both on the same team." In my view, both of them deserved to be fired, Khloe for not fully disclosing her DUI offense to Mr. Trump before ever appearing on the program, and Clint for his terrible and highly ineffective performance as Project Manager.
You are so right when you say "your life is never the same". Years have past and I still wonder what would have become of this beautiful boy had he lived his life fully. I still miss him terribly. I was 19 at the time and my live changed forever, I was one of those {mothers} sisters who worked with MADD and other organizations for years to bring awareness and justice.
Thank you for giving time on your show and addressing the crime. A few minutes from you is like years of hard work form us.
Thank you.
xx
Good bye Trump and your circus side shows ... Firing Khloe Kardashian simply was wrong!
Trump, Your fired from this household forever!!!
The show makes great TV for many reasons. The notable thought and experience in the comment threads points to TV editing which manufactures and condenses TV created drama, but really draws from life experience and then teaches about life.
Interdispersed with beautiful images of New York, seeing "somebodies" devolve into nobodies has the theatrical attraction of the Springer Show, making the Celebrity Apprentice great viewing and smiling at the same time.
Sincerely,
Jaime Lyn Brisebois
My brother's killer confessed and stated that he was so