Apprentice 3 - Street Smarts vs. Book smarts

A first year advertising design student would have receive at best a C for that pedestrian, dull brochure design. The initial concept was uninspired and although it could have been buffed up with better photographs and text, it wouldn't impress any executive -- they'd have been lucky to impress the janitor in the building.

I dislike Craig. He is hateful. The words that come out of his mouth are hateful. His treatment of Kendra is demeaning and hateful. He is a condescending jerk.

Craig falsely accused Kendra of failing to establish a theme for the brochure. He falsely accused Kendra of having no clue about what she is doing.

Kendra was the project manager. She managed. She delegated tasks, but she made it clear what she wanted. She placed Craig in charge of getting the photographs that she wanted at one location. Craig was ticked off that Kendra had the nerve to tell him what she wanted. He complained that it made no sense for Kendra to put him in charge of that particular photo shoot if she was going to micromanage. However, if the team had lost, Craig would have complained that it was Kendra's fault because she didn't tell him what she envisioned in the brochure and what photos she needed to make that vision come alive.

Craig needs to GO.

I like Tana, but her actions on this last episode reflect a questionable character. Her attitude was:

"Kendra, you do everything. If we lose, then it's your fault. I don't care, because I'm exempt. But if you do a good job, I'll take the credit."

Tana reminded me of Jennifer from last season who pretended to have absolutely no understanding of the jeans fit wheel, but after her team did all the work, she took over the presentation and took all the credit for the win.

In the end, Jennifer lost . . . and I think the same fate will befall Tana.

I predict Kendra will be the winner.

Right on the mark Debra.

Kendra is a fav of mine to win.

Sorry, can't see but meager traces of leadership qualities in Kendra. This is a pack of loan wolves who are scavaging around for the same bone which may be unfortunately the way many people make it to the top in business, essentially by the skin of their teeth. However, I don't believe that happens all the time -- many executives made it to the top over many years of hard work focusing on a purpose and being judged on a finally tuned honing of their leadership skills. Although the first two shows gave a pretty good indication that the winners had a germination of these skills they are bound to be developing them on the job. They did appear they could and be headed in the right direction. I just don't see it with any of those in this group.

Yeah, this season's is no doubt the most incompetent group of contestants in the Apprentice.

I don't know about incompetant -- the tasks are specialized in sales and promotion, not building skyscrapers. It is well known that the art of salesmanship is heavily weighted in selling oneself, though. I'm having trouble believing any of these people could sell a heater to an Eskimo. The ad for the Buick was a master stroke and that person may have a place in advertizing art for concepts and execution of ads. A leader she is not.

I wonder if Trump has the tasks set up in such a way so he can determine some one for a position he is looking to fill. For example, you state that these tasks seem to be advertising/sales and similar. Maybe that is what he is looking for and why the tasks are geared that way. Or maybe it is simply because the companies sponsoring (Home Depot, Burger King, Pontiac, etc.) are requesting this sort of thing.

Any way as none of these particular people seem to be overly strong as leaders, I see Kendra as being one of the strongest. At least she shows some smarts and does not let others step on her. She is definately assertive, but not in an overbearing way as many of them have been. Her and Alex seem the most likely fit at least as far as what Trump as looked at previously.

Even though I didn't like Tana's attitude in the last episode, I have to say that of who's left, she's the strongest. Kendra did a great job and pulled it off after being screwed by the other two, but I agree with whoever said she doesn't have strong leadership skills. They won because she essentially just did it herself, but that won't always work and that's not the best way to run a project as it could easily be too much work for one person.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Kendra did an excellent job with the Solstice but she has not shone prior to this and one great job alone is not enough to get her hired. Besides she had no aptitude for leading - since she practically had to do the entire project by herself because she couldn't control or rally her team. They walked all over her.

Craig has turned into a disrespectful whiner. He is not a winner in my book and had one mildly successful project but not by winning over and managing his team. He happened to be lucky that he got kids involved with the Home Depot project and the other team sucked.

Alex has become a non-entity. He was useless in the last few projects and has not attempted to make any efforts really. That looks very bad for him. He is flying under the radar right now and that is wimping out in my opinion. Not a good way to sell yourself to Trump. The Donald is going to spot his flaws now that there are only four left.

That leaves Tana. She has been visible, having success and noticed by the Donald several times. Of the remaining four candidates, she is the only one I can imagine him considering hiring .... because she is enthusiastic, smart, and vaguely reminiscent of Carolyn! I was most disappointed in her slacking off on this last task but I think the Donald will overlook that because she is the best pick of the bunch.

The tasks in the past were sales oriented, even the renovation of the motel sequence depended on selling the rentals of the rooms. I realize the last few tasks turns the heat up with tasks that are a great deal more involved with leadership and somewhat with the art of the deal. Are all these tasks really indicating that someone is capable of becoming an immediate executive? Only on a subjective basis -- the winner will still be learning on the job as this is not the traditional way of promoting someone to executive status. Many executive positions are filled by head hunters who steal executives from other businesses. They've already proven themselves and are just plain given a deal they can't refuse.

So I don't see that much difference with the tasks in this season, just different sponsors. Since the bulk of the Donald's projects are construction projects, you could assume when he looks for someone to head up these entities that they have experience in the construction industry.

As the focus of this 3rd installment of the Apprentice gets sharper, Kendra is the best candidate to get the job. She has consistently performed well (if not always outstanding) and in the mini-golf course and Pontiac brochure tasks, was head and shoulders above the pack.

Craig, Tana and Alex have had their high moments, but they've also each had their low tides, as well. I don't see any of them performing on the same consistently competent level as Kendra.

I thought Bren was an early candidate for the final 2 but over the long-haul, he hasn't successfully transitioned from trial lawyer to businessman and I think he is the least-deserving to make the final 2. He hasn't stood out in any task and he's come up with some of the most stupefying dumb ideas (most notably, the gay chef theme for the handwash commercial).

All in all, aside from Danny-Boy's spontaneous song-busting, John's sneering chauvinism, Audrey's lost-child meltdown, Erin's beauty-queen snobbery and Chris's weekly inexplicable imlosions, this installment of the Apprentice has featured some of the weakest candidates yet. I hope A4 will return this still compelling show back to form.

I really dislike Craig now. I can't believe I even thought he was a good candidate at one point. "Excuse me little lady." Kendra, under the circumstances handled herself pretty well. I would have reach over and smacked the guy. Even if Kendra was completely in the wrong, there was no reason whatsoever to speak to a woman in that condensing tone and words. I would never speak to some one that reported to me in that tone and never use words like that. How would you ever develop respect for people who report to you, if you deal with them in such a way? Certainly not some one who is supposed to be a peer of yours. The only time I ever spoke to anyone like that was my 6 year old daughter. Certainly not an adult.

I cannot wait to see him fired! The nice thing is even though he was project manager he no longer gets the benefit of not being fired at this stage. Craig should be the next one to go - no doubt at all in my mind.

I wonder how he would have reacted if Kendra came back and called him - boy.

Trump will fire either Craig or Kendra next week, but both of them will go.

The final two will be Alex and Tana, and Tana will win.

I disagree....

Kendra's been pretty solid; Alex has been a mess.

Craig and Alex will go. Tana and Kendra will be final two, unless Trump is a complete misogynist.

Seems pretty clear that the final two will include one book smart and one street smart. Then Trump will hire the one with a college education....

Alex seems to fit Trump's vision and Trump does like him, but I have to agree with you DrewDad, I think Alex has really s*cked lately and the only reason he stayed on this far is that he seems to fit the Trump mold.

But in this case it may be Tana and Kendra (at least these are the two who have shown the most promise).

I think both Alex and Bren are dull and uncreative.

Before they went into the board room, I believed that Alex should be fired.

Their less than brilliant solution to desk top clutter was "move your clutter to another desk and set the new desk next to your old desk."

Well . . . it wasn't Bren's idea, it was Alex's idea.

And then Alex asked Bren to conduct a "focus group." George was correct: It defies common sense to design the car first and THEN conduct a survey to find out what the consumer wants. Alex had the concept backwards.

Additionally, Alex decided NOT to meet with the Staples executives in person. He was the one that deprived the team of the most valuable opportunity to rub elbows with the judges and find out what they would view as a winning project.

I believed Alex's management (failure to meet with the judges and designing a product without determining what the consumer wants) was the reason why the team lost. Alex should have been fired.

Nevertheless, Bren hung himself in the Boardroom. He didn't fight for himself. He let Trump know that he is not creative, not a risk-taker, and would be happier with his old job and going home to his family. Under those circumstances, Trump could justify firing Bren instead of Alex.

However, Alex is still dull, uncreative, and lacks common sense with respect to the business world.

Another thing that has been irking me is the repeated references by the teams to conducting a "focus group." Perhaps the phrase would make sense if the teams had actually gathered a group of people together and asked them to focus on an issue and state their concensus. However, when you approach people and ask them a question, aren't you conducting a survey rather than a focus group? Or have the two things become synonymous?

I said it before, I'll say it again. Craig is a JERK. He is condescending towards women.

On the Dominos Pizza task when the team members were discussing toppings, Kendra said, "everybody likes pepperoni." Craig immediately pounced on Kendra and condescendingly admonished her for making a generalization. Huh?

This happened again this week. Kendra was trying to make the point -- in the work world -- people use folders as an organization tool and that their stackable ought to accomodate folders. Craig again attacked her for using generalizations and essentially claimed his superior intelligence and experience proved her wrong.

She told him that he was condescending and he denied the accusation and went on to say, "excuse me little lady." Huh? I guess that's not a condescending remark in Craig's world of self-proclaimed superiority over generalizing women.

The JERK has to go.

Yeah, Craig is being a jerk. I mean, it was clear that when Kendra was saying things like "always", she was stating a hyperbole, and Craig was being childish about it! And the "little lady" comment was just unacceptable and not any smarter to say it on television.

HANES task: Whoever makes the most money selling collectible, limited edition t-shirts designed by a noted artist wins.

PARAPHRASING:

Tana (the project manager): Let's glue something on these nifty t-shirts and get $12.00 more per shirt.

Alex: Tana, don't you think we should take some time to talk about marketing?

Tana: We can put someone outside on the sidewalk with a banner . . . [we gotta get our priorities in order and get those sweet glittery beads in a far away place first] . . . we can discuss marketing on the ride back.

* * *

Kendra (the project manager): Let's take advantage of the collectible nature of these "art" t-shirts and send special invitations to our artist's followers (on a list of 3,000) to come buy the limited edition . . . .

Craig (the JERK): I like the star better than the heart. The only reason why you ask me anything is so you can do the complete opposite.

* * *

Kendra: I think we need to establish an affordable price. I'm thinking $20 for the short-sleeved t-shirts and $25 for the long-sleeved.

Craig (the JERK): These are LIMITED EDITION t-shirts, we should set the price at $40.

Kendra: Okay, I'm willing to meet you half-way.

Craig (the JERK): You don't organize your time well. We've been working on price ALL DAY. You never listen to me.

Kendra: When have I not listened to you? What are you talking about?

Craig (the JERK): [evading the question] I'm not going to go over it again . . . [whine, rant, and rave without making any sense] . . . I liked the star better.

* * *

Tana / Alex team: You set your prices higher than the other team (thanks to those price-enhancing beads) and sold 33 t-shirts . . . did okay . . . just over $1,000 in sales.

Kendra / Craig team: You sold over 100 t-shirts . . . made over $2,000 in sales. YOU WIN!

* * *

Kendra and Craig go from "cat" fight all day as a team . . . to "dog" fight reward. Kendra shoots Craig down.

* * *

In the boardroom:

Boardroom Q: Who was in charge of Marketing?

Tana (the project manager): I assumed Alex was in charge of marketing -- he was in charge of marketing on past tasks.

Boardroom Q: YOU ASSUMED? Don't you know who was in charge of marketing?

Tana: Alex was in charge of marketing.

Alex: No one was in charge of marketing. I tried to discuss marketing with Tana, but she didn't have time because we had to get those DAMN BEADS.

Boardroom Q: Don't you think establishing a marketing plan was more important than traveling all that distance to get beads?

Tana: But the beads were nice. We were able to charge $12 more per t-shirt because of those nifty beads.

Boardroom Q: BUT, you weren't selling beads . . . you were selling ART . . . a collector's item . . . a limited edition t-shirt designed by a noted artist. Why didn't you market the art?

Tana: Duh . . . we didn't think about that . . . but, but . . . I have a better record than Alex. I have two wins and one loss as project manager.

Boardroom Q: ALEX, how many times have you lost as project manager?

Alex: Um, um. . . I don't remember . . . once?

Donald Trump: WHY can't you be honest? How can you NOT remember how often you have lost? You JUST lost the Staples task; you lost the wearable technology task; and before that you lost at the (whatever) task.

Alex: I forgot . . . I've just been losing so much . . . five times in a row now.

Donald Trump: I'm very disappointed in Tana, but her track record is better. Alex, you're fired.

***


Tana's performance was embarrassing. I can't believe that she dropped the ball on marketing when the winner would be determined by total sales. I can't believe that she tried to blame Alex for the marketing blunder. Sure, she glued some sweet jewels on the t-shirts. But, that wasn't the point of the task.

Craig is an exasperating, insulting jerk -- worse than that, he's an abusive victimizer. Some guys in the work world just have to find a female victim to constantly pick on and rip apart in order to feel superior. It seems like Craig picks some woman whom he is working with and then picks, and picks, condescends, picks, insults, and then picks some more. His first victim was an easy target -- she was the emotionally vulnerable "I was so beautiful that the other girls were jealous; I wanted to scar my face so people would like me" drama queen. After she left, then he selected Kendra.

Kendra: She doesn't let Craig get away with picking on her -- she tries to be professional about her objections -- but she isn't succeeding because she's Craig's designated victim. He NEEDS to lecture in a condescending manner in order to build himself up in his own eyes . . . and without his victim . . . he's nothing.

Tana is WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too obsessed with the Bedazzler.... Like, it's unhealthy, I think, how much she loves that thing.