When will any of this year�s candidates show us something special?� For sure (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Brady), we have seen some good performances and some consistency.� We have also seen some of the usual appalling performances � but, I will grant you, fewer than usual.� But I have not detected any outstanding […]
Last night�s episode of the Apprentice focused our attention on one key point; and I hope you didn�t miss it. Sadly, the two teams did, in their different ways, miss the point. And the candidate who did so most spectacularly, paid the price. The task was to create an awareness-raising campaign to support the promotion […]
Tonight�s episode gave us a litany of business lessons, a further reminder of the importance of demeanour but, ultimately for me, one really important principle to focus on: decision making. The teams� task was to select two urban artists to represent and to mount a one night show and sell to maximise the commission on […]
Nearly a week late in publication, I know, but Episode seven was instructive about one of the biggest principles in business � and one of my hobby-horses. It also provided a deja-vu moment as we flashed back to the theme of my commentary on Episode 1, at the start of this series. This was the […]
That�s two weeks in a row I think Lord Sugar fired a strong candidate.� Today�s show taught us the importance of what you have to say for yourself. But before I get into my analysis of what I took away from the show, let�s look at how the task played out. The Teams and the […]
Well, I said creativity would be central to this year�s Apprentice (in my 3 April blog post) and what could be more creative than this week�s task? That task was to: Come up with a new fitness programme that will start a trend Create a promotional video and branding, and Pitch it to three health […]
Two Roads Diverged� Once again, the cause of the losing team�s failure is absolutely clear � and once again, the same problem plagued both teams � and also, once again, Lord Sugar�s opening remarks presaged the key problem: it�s almost as if he knows what he�s talking about. Fancy that! But the response within each […]
A lot of Apprentice tasks require a considerable degree of creativity. It has always been thus for as long as I have been watching, and the past two weeks of series eight have both put it at the heart of the tasks. I expect many more like this, because this series, like the last, is […]
