The Celebrity Apprentice Marathon
I watched the first seven episodes of the seventh season of The Apprentice (The Celebrity Apprentice) last night and this morning. It was a sight to see celebrities from different fields (some are even heads their own companies) cooperating (and fighting!) with one another, for charity.
Yes, I guess the difference this brings is that these people are playing, raising money and exerting effort to win not for themselves, but for charity. Of course, the exposure they're getting will probably have immeasurable affect on their value.
This was the first time I actually followed the show (I remember watching parts of an episode before and that was it). Basically it's two teams trying to outdo one another in a project or task - one per episode - which got them selling, advertising, promoting, and all sorts of stuff. The losing team gets a member fired by Donald Trump. Since it's The Celebrity Apprentice, the "celebrity" factor is involved and we see them calling out their contacts to buy hotdogs for up to five grand or Broadway show tickets for ten.
I was amused seeing different types of personalities together doing what for me was major business projects (at least budget-wise). A Project manager is assigned (or selected) for each team per project and the leadership style of each of the project managers, particularly the differences, as well as how the other team members react to such styles were really interesting.
Some personal notes:
Episode 01
Use your strengths. The losing team didn't use their "celebrity status" enough and that was their downfall. The "fired" person, Tiff, was singled out as failing to call a friend who Trump knew would have been glad to make a "donation" to charity (by buying a "name the price" hotdog sandwich).
Episode 02
There were hints (ok, there were a lot) of arrogance seen on the winning team but at the end of the day, their commercial was better, hands down. Indeed, more intense planning is sometimes still beaten out by a more creative mind.
Episode 03
Gene impressed me with his leadership style here. He took a risk of doing something "out of the box" which unfortunately the "clients" didn't like, he stood by his decision and said the "clients" were wrong, and took a bullet to save one of his team members from being fired. This is good in real life but since it's a game, he was the one who was fired instead. Arrogant speeches aside, I respect and admire his values - hands down to him.
Episode 04
Getting the win means more than just doing the obvious, plus plus, but by doing everything possible. Piers was able to show this by not only calling in high roller contacts but also by acting as a "mascot" to attract more people to buy tickets for Broadway shows. The losing team called in contacts to help out but it still wasn't enough and there was still the feeling they could have done better (if only...). Close fight for this one though.
Episode 05
One big lesson here - trust is the most important if not one of the most important thing. Vinny loses the trust of both teams by being a 'rat turned double agent' and he opted to resign than continue playing knowing that the other contestants don't trust him anymore. It seemed Piers set him up but he was still found to be at fault for allowing this to happen.
Episode 06
The winning team wins by being more creative and by thinking out of the box. Nothing new there. Emphasis was again given on listening to what the client wants as well as not giving up even though the other team seems better at the task.
Episode 07
Enjoy your work. The losing team was obviously having fun doing the task while the winning team had a very severe misunderstanding from within. It was ironic. To reward the right ways of working (especially in spirit of charity), Trump didn't fire anyone. Indeed there are more ways to winning the the obvious.
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Can't wait to see what happens on the rest of the series.
Yes, I guess the difference this brings is that these people are playing, raising money and exerting effort to win not for themselves, but for charity. Of course, the exposure they're getting will probably have immeasurable affect on their value.
This was the first time I actually followed the show (I remember watching parts of an episode before and that was it). Basically it's two teams trying to outdo one another in a project or task - one per episode - which got them selling, advertising, promoting, and all sorts of stuff. The losing team gets a member fired by Donald Trump. Since it's The Celebrity Apprentice, the "celebrity" factor is involved and we see them calling out their contacts to buy hotdogs for up to five grand or Broadway show tickets for ten.
I was amused seeing different types of personalities together doing what for me was major business projects (at least budget-wise). A Project manager is assigned (or selected) for each team per project and the leadership style of each of the project managers, particularly the differences, as well as how the other team members react to such styles were really interesting.
Some personal notes:
Episode 01
Use your strengths. The losing team didn't use their "celebrity status" enough and that was their downfall. The "fired" person, Tiff, was singled out as failing to call a friend who Trump knew would have been glad to make a "donation" to charity (by buying a "name the price" hotdog sandwich).
Episode 02
There were hints (ok, there were a lot) of arrogance seen on the winning team but at the end of the day, their commercial was better, hands down. Indeed, more intense planning is sometimes still beaten out by a more creative mind.
Episode 03
Gene impressed me with his leadership style here. He took a risk of doing something "out of the box" which unfortunately the "clients" didn't like, he stood by his decision and said the "clients" were wrong, and took a bullet to save one of his team members from being fired. This is good in real life but since it's a game, he was the one who was fired instead. Arrogant speeches aside, I respect and admire his values - hands down to him.
Episode 04
Getting the win means more than just doing the obvious, plus plus, but by doing everything possible. Piers was able to show this by not only calling in high roller contacts but also by acting as a "mascot" to attract more people to buy tickets for Broadway shows. The losing team called in contacts to help out but it still wasn't enough and there was still the feeling they could have done better (if only...). Close fight for this one though.
Episode 05
One big lesson here - trust is the most important if not one of the most important thing. Vinny loses the trust of both teams by being a 'rat turned double agent' and he opted to resign than continue playing knowing that the other contestants don't trust him anymore. It seemed Piers set him up but he was still found to be at fault for allowing this to happen.
Episode 06
The winning team wins by being more creative and by thinking out of the box. Nothing new there. Emphasis was again given on listening to what the client wants as well as not giving up even though the other team seems better at the task.
Episode 07
Enjoy your work. The losing team was obviously having fun doing the task while the winning team had a very severe misunderstanding from within. It was ironic. To reward the right ways of working (especially in spirit of charity), Trump didn't fire anyone. Indeed there are more ways to winning the the obvious.
---
Can't wait to see what happens on the rest of the series.