Showing posts with label apprentice episode 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apprentice episode 2. Show all posts
Friday, 10 May 2013
Beer today gone tomorrow
"Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems"
A great philosopher once said that (Homer Simpson)but he had obviously never seen The Apprentice, especially this weeks episode. The thing is, the alcohol had very little to do with the problems this week, that was firmly in the hands of the classic Apprentice combination...ego and strategy (or lack of it).
You'd think after 8 previous series the candidates would sense the warning signs around the challenges like this "produce and sell" task. The real key to both areas isn't in the speed and aggression of selling, it's in the planning.
Tim "thank you for the opportunity even though we've just won and I should just shut up and do the huggy-jumpy thing outside the room" Stillwell was transferred onto the girls team to begin the mixing of the teams and fared no better in the spot vacated by the fired Jaz.
Immediately taking the project manager role, he gave a rather convincing impression of a weedy stripper at a demanding hen night, more concerned with not being eaten alive than concentrating on the job in hand.
Still at least he didn't send a non-alcohol drinking team member to the manufacturing plant, key requirement being the ability to taste the product. And at least he also made sure his sales team had enough samples to keep the buyers happy. Who'd have thought that a set of buyers would want to taste a product before they agreed to spend their money on buying it.
"Stella English" look-a-likee Francesca, placed in charge of that toughest of task on Apprentice tasks...sums...almost came a cropper as the girls manufacturing team produced the most lethal brew since Oliver Reed and George Best decided to empty their cupboards to make a punch, which led to gallons of product being washed away and a big loss of cash.
Yet, it was the sales strategy that once again cost the project manager his place. "Nice but Dim" Tim was wobbling like a student on a 50p a shot night as his sales teams struggled with locations, pricing and selling - not the greatest of combinations.
If nothing else, this episode showed how important it is to get people into the right roles and balance personalities in teams. The clashes between Zee, Alex and Jason, and Uzma and Rebecca were Apprentice staples, but some better decision making on both parts by each of the project managers would've headed off any problems before they started.
Not for the first time the serene Karren Brady was left exasperated by the conduct of the girls as the claws came out in the boardroom. Yet, it was the intriguing prospect of just how Zee will conduct himself when left in the steely grip of Lord Sugars pointing finger that has me looking forward to the next few episodes. His conduct with Jason was bordering on bullying at times, even if some of his gripes had some validity.
As for "The Count" his eyebrows were sadly more absent this episode, though the magnificent black turtleneck, aviator shades and brown coat on the shoulder look was stunningly "Boycie", and yet menacingly Kray twin. A show stopper all of it's own...maybe he'd spent just a little too long sniffing the empty sample bottles.
Did Lord Sugar get it right? Simon Says....Yes! Tim was floating in a vat of mis-management by the end of the task.
Star of the Week: Alex Mills - Not just the "Eyebrows", the Belgium "Look".
Got Lucky: Francesca Macduff-Varley - How often the "counter" takes the rap on the manufacturing task.
Heading for a Fall: Zeeshaan Shah - He's making enemies, will he be able to control his short fuse in the pressure of a boardroom dressing down?
What do you think, did Lord Sugar get the firing correct? Who should've gone? Who's your favourite to win?
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
The Apprentice Funny Bits Series 8 Episode 2
Matt Edmonson's Funny Bits from Episode 2 of The Apprentice
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qgyf9
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qgyf9
Splash Down; Apprentice Series 8, Episode 2
You
snooze, you lose. In the tough world of
The Apprentice selection sleep is for wimps, losers and obviously purple eyed
restaurant owners.
Whether it was a dastardly use of Sith powers by Katie (see last week’s blog) or a badly timed one woman sleep experiment, you got the feeling there was always only going to be one candidates head on the chopping block once ‘Sleepgate’ occurred. After all, 1st reply to everything in the boardroom to Maria O'Connor...”well at least I wasn’t asleep”. Game, set, matchsticks!
It was another loss for the girls in a task they collectively failed to impress on. From the original idea generation where they pretty much ignored the brief to create a gadget and instead created some kind of plastic waterproof force-field, to the disastrous pitches and a frankly terrible boardroom defence. There was a lack of any quality in the team, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to have lost more than one of the girls team. The particularly broad Lancastrian tones of Jenna were as pleasant on the ear as the sound of an angry parent scraping waterproof crayon off the rest of a bath not covered by Splish Splash screen. (and that’s coming from a proud and broad Lancastrian!)
Fundamentally their product solved a problem that wasn’t even there; in fact they may just have created two more. Their genius idea was to create a shield to corral children into a corner of the bath whilst distracting them with waterproof crayons. I’m not sure if the London riots were happening at the time of filming, but that solution may be something worth considering by the Met should anything happen again.
Of course, the inability of the girls’ team to make an early decision left them with a poor choice of rooms for solving a problem in. The boys quick choice of kitchen certainly left them the better options, and thanks to Duane the created an ideal kitchen gadget. Ideal in the sense that it’s one of those “must have for a month” kind of gadgets. You know the kind, the ones that we all see in the Betterware catalogue, decide you cannot do without and then within 2 months it’s gathering dust at the back of a cupboard (hopefully with crushed cabbage already removed).
The boys brought home the victory mainly due to the complete disarray of the girls, whose project manager Jane must win the prize for most ambitiously flawed pitch to a buyer ever. 1 million units...only if he’d been drinking that many before the meeting.
The boys also won despite the poor project management of Azhar Siddique. In another week of animal references Azhar ‘committed’ killer whale went head to head with Ricky ‘The Shark’ Martin. It was a battle that the producers of Frozen Planet will no doubt be looking to add to the schedules. That would be if it wasn’t for the fact that neither the shark nor the killer whale resembled anything like their predatory cousins. In fact for those of you that saw the awe-inspiring BBC documentary, both Azhar and Ricky are more akin to the poor seal trapped on the ice flow by the team of Killer Whales. It really is a matter of ‘if not when’ a wave of reality will smash them off their fragile ice home.
In such tasks the product is key, and getting great ideas initially is the only chance you have of getting a good product.
Whether it was a dastardly use of Sith powers by Katie (see last week’s blog) or a badly timed one woman sleep experiment, you got the feeling there was always only going to be one candidates head on the chopping block once ‘Sleepgate’ occurred. After all, 1st reply to everything in the boardroom to Maria O'Connor...”well at least I wasn’t asleep”. Game, set, matchsticks!
It was another loss for the girls in a task they collectively failed to impress on. From the original idea generation where they pretty much ignored the brief to create a gadget and instead created some kind of plastic waterproof force-field, to the disastrous pitches and a frankly terrible boardroom defence. There was a lack of any quality in the team, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to have lost more than one of the girls team. The particularly broad Lancastrian tones of Jenna were as pleasant on the ear as the sound of an angry parent scraping waterproof crayon off the rest of a bath not covered by Splish Splash screen. (and that’s coming from a proud and broad Lancastrian!)
Fundamentally their product solved a problem that wasn’t even there; in fact they may just have created two more. Their genius idea was to create a shield to corral children into a corner of the bath whilst distracting them with waterproof crayons. I’m not sure if the London riots were happening at the time of filming, but that solution may be something worth considering by the Met should anything happen again.
Of course, the inability of the girls’ team to make an early decision left them with a poor choice of rooms for solving a problem in. The boys quick choice of kitchen certainly left them the better options, and thanks to Duane the created an ideal kitchen gadget. Ideal in the sense that it’s one of those “must have for a month” kind of gadgets. You know the kind, the ones that we all see in the Betterware catalogue, decide you cannot do without and then within 2 months it’s gathering dust at the back of a cupboard (hopefully with crushed cabbage already removed).
The boys brought home the victory mainly due to the complete disarray of the girls, whose project manager Jane must win the prize for most ambitiously flawed pitch to a buyer ever. 1 million units...only if he’d been drinking that many before the meeting.
The boys also won despite the poor project management of Azhar Siddique. In another week of animal references Azhar ‘committed’ killer whale went head to head with Ricky ‘The Shark’ Martin. It was a battle that the producers of Frozen Planet will no doubt be looking to add to the schedules. That would be if it wasn’t for the fact that neither the shark nor the killer whale resembled anything like their predatory cousins. In fact for those of you that saw the awe-inspiring BBC documentary, both Azhar and Ricky are more akin to the poor seal trapped on the ice flow by the team of Killer Whales. It really is a matter of ‘if not when’ a wave of reality will smash them off their fragile ice home.
In such tasks the product is key, and getting great ideas initially is the only chance you have of getting a good product.
Star of the Week: Duane Bryan
– He’s the first really star of this year’s series. Saved a dying pitch with a
passionate sell of his idea.
Got Lucky: Jenna Whittingham. The Preston girl completely messed up the figures, and only ‘sleepgate’ really saved her.
Heading for a Fall: Katie Wright. Her Sith powers could be fading, named again in the boardroom fight-out.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Got Lucky: Jenna Whittingham. The Preston girl completely messed up the figures, and only ‘sleepgate’ really saved her.
Heading for a Fall: Katie Wright. Her Sith powers could be fading, named again in the boardroom fight-out.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
The Gloves are Off! Apprentice Series 7 Episode 2
Not since 1977 when John Williams' iconic Imperial March burst into life and the be-gloved villain of George Lucas' creation marched into view has there been a scarier appearance of gloves on screen. I talk of course of Edna's presentation to a room full of bemused and distinctly unimpressed looking technology enthusiasts during the App task.
In true Richard Hillman glove style, the addition of said accessories seemed to be leading to a car-crashing-into-the-ship-canal ending for the girls. Yet in a twist of Corrie proportions we gasped open mouthed (it was nearly 10pm on a school night) as victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat and the girls team lead by Edna secured an improbable victory.
Even the most ardent supporters of the girls’ team could not have predicted the final result having seen the team lurch from one disappointment to another throughout the task. However thanks to this unlikely win we were treated to piece of Jedi magic as Jim avoided the final three by calling on the great Obi-Wan to point out to team leader Leon that he ‘wasn’t the candidate he was looking for’.
It was a piece of brilliance though possibly unnecessary as Jim certainly wasn’t going, but genius all the same and left Leon (yes he did appear on an episode of Dragons Den) looking weak and firmly in Lord Sugars’ tractor beam.
But what did we learn from the second task? Understanding the brief certainly, after all the girls victory was sealed purely on the basis that their app had a more global reach than the boys.
However I would argue that luck more than anything played a bigger role in the win than any well executed strategy. As with any venture, planning is essential but a fair wind is a massive help. There are those that look upon luck in business as a fallacy - there is no such thing as luck. But I prefer to see luck for what it is, something we can try and turn in our favour as much as possible, and it is a concept that we should embrace. See luck as something that can be worked towards and it’s possible to envisage seeing yourself getting luckier.
Luck can be broken down into four parts, and it’s amazing how the luckiest people seem to have these things in place. It goes as follows:
L - Location, getting yourself out there and speaking to as many people as possible, mentioning your aims, your goals and your challenges and where you're looking for help. Or being in as many places as possible, one of them may just be the right one.
U - Understanding, know your chosen field as well as you can, who are the players, where are the opportunities
C - Contacts, speak to people, network, draw up a list of the people you would really like to speak to and mention them to everyone you know...you've played the Kevin Bacon game right??
K - Knowledge, know your subject, be an expert, you don't need to be working in an industry for years to know about it, do your research.
Ok it’s not a perfect system but to bring it back to the App task the girls won the task by perhaps understanding the key part of the market and producing a intro to it that played well with the global market. Whereas the boys team through the design of their App failed to understand that they were (for such a short task) cutting off the largest market through not understanding the field correctly.
Of course it could just be that the sight of those gloves scared most of the world into downloading the girls app on the understanding that there may be a new Death Star lurking behind the moon so they best hurry.
Star of the Week: Jim Eastwood – He made me say that with a whoosh of his Jedi powers
Got Lucky: Edna Agbarha – Two lucky episodes on the trot for Edna who almost lost the girls the task with a strange presentation that failed to mention the product at all.
Heading for a Fall: Glenn Ward – Lord Sugar is already questioning his potential and he appears to be winding a few others up
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice and other things don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
In true Richard Hillman glove style, the addition of said accessories seemed to be leading to a car-crashing-into-the-ship-canal ending for the girls. Yet in a twist of Corrie proportions we gasped open mouthed (it was nearly 10pm on a school night) as victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat and the girls team lead by Edna secured an improbable victory.
Even the most ardent supporters of the girls’ team could not have predicted the final result having seen the team lurch from one disappointment to another throughout the task. However thanks to this unlikely win we were treated to piece of Jedi magic as Jim avoided the final three by calling on the great Obi-Wan to point out to team leader Leon that he ‘wasn’t the candidate he was looking for’.
It was a piece of brilliance though possibly unnecessary as Jim certainly wasn’t going, but genius all the same and left Leon (yes he did appear on an episode of Dragons Den) looking weak and firmly in Lord Sugars’ tractor beam.
But what did we learn from the second task? Understanding the brief certainly, after all the girls victory was sealed purely on the basis that their app had a more global reach than the boys.
However I would argue that luck more than anything played a bigger role in the win than any well executed strategy. As with any venture, planning is essential but a fair wind is a massive help. There are those that look upon luck in business as a fallacy - there is no such thing as luck. But I prefer to see luck for what it is, something we can try and turn in our favour as much as possible, and it is a concept that we should embrace. See luck as something that can be worked towards and it’s possible to envisage seeing yourself getting luckier.
Luck can be broken down into four parts, and it’s amazing how the luckiest people seem to have these things in place. It goes as follows:
L - Location, getting yourself out there and speaking to as many people as possible, mentioning your aims, your goals and your challenges and where you're looking for help. Or being in as many places as possible, one of them may just be the right one.
U - Understanding, know your chosen field as well as you can, who are the players, where are the opportunities
C - Contacts, speak to people, network, draw up a list of the people you would really like to speak to and mention them to everyone you know...you've played the Kevin Bacon game right??
K - Knowledge, know your subject, be an expert, you don't need to be working in an industry for years to know about it, do your research.
Ok it’s not a perfect system but to bring it back to the App task the girls won the task by perhaps understanding the key part of the market and producing a intro to it that played well with the global market. Whereas the boys team through the design of their App failed to understand that they were (for such a short task) cutting off the largest market through not understanding the field correctly.
Of course it could just be that the sight of those gloves scared most of the world into downloading the girls app on the understanding that there may be a new Death Star lurking behind the moon so they best hurry.
Star of the Week: Jim Eastwood – He made me say that with a whoosh of his Jedi powers
Got Lucky: Edna Agbarha – Two lucky episodes on the trot for Edna who almost lost the girls the task with a strange presentation that failed to mention the product at all.
Heading for a Fall: Glenn Ward – Lord Sugar is already questioning his potential and he appears to be winding a few others up
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice and other things don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Friday, 15 October 2010
Friends, Lancastrians...here me now!! Apprentice 2010 Episode 2
Sound. We all make it, some more than others. And it’s the same in business, and never has there been a better time to be heard. Though let me qualify this, there is a distinction between sheer volume and the distinct sounds of passionate and enthusiastic believers.
The enthusiasm with which the candidates have attacked the first few tasks is admirable. Enthusiasm, especially around the creative table, is an essential element; a fired up, high-energy session creates its own momentum of ideas. Enthusiasm and energy can get you a long way, particularly when the going gets tough.
What has been seriously less admirable is the usual Big Brother mix of ego’s, super-ego’s and demi-gods, focused solely on making, well noise quite frankly, and lots of it.
As expected a dose of Stella tempered the boys’ stag-rut (in complete contrast to real life). However, the screaming match continued on the girl’s team, with the all-seeing eyes of the classy Karen and Nick less than impressed.
The uncontrollable noise from the girls meetings reflects a similarity within many industries these days. The markets out there are often crowded, noisy places, not easy places for your customers to hear your voice. Sometimes it’s just hard to get heard.
It’s your marketing that gets you heard, and the very best marketing will do this in such a way that you’ll get heard over the din created by everyone else.
Many desperately join in to the cacophony of sound; hoping brash volume will turn heads, Joanna being a prime example. Others sit back, aghast at the wall of sound in front of them, unable or unwilling to get involved. Some crack it with expert advice. And others put up their hands and hope for the best just like Joy.
A hand in the air, will get attention initially but as the old saying goes, sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. And after seeing that hand wafting in the breeze for a few minutes, it no longer registers as relevant.
It is as true with your marketing. Truly uncontested spaces are difficult to find, and it is important that you are able to get noticed, and then create such an impression that it’s your voice that is the one others turn to.
Get heard, make some noise but ensure you can back it up. As Karren Brady put so succinctly, it’s about finding those moments where your words will make the most impact. Don’t think putting your hand in the air is enough. Joy did, and the impact was lost. And even more criminal, when she was given the platform in the boardroom to put her view over, she flunked it.
Throw your enthusiasm and energy into your messages, and find innovative and most importantly, relevant ways for your message to be heard. Pick your moments and strike with impact, understanding and relevance.
Then the next time you get vocal, you’ll see the room quietening a whole lot quicker, with no hands required.
The enthusiasm with which the candidates have attacked the first few tasks is admirable. Enthusiasm, especially around the creative table, is an essential element; a fired up, high-energy session creates its own momentum of ideas. Enthusiasm and energy can get you a long way, particularly when the going gets tough.
What has been seriously less admirable is the usual Big Brother mix of ego’s, super-ego’s and demi-gods, focused solely on making, well noise quite frankly, and lots of it.
As expected a dose of Stella tempered the boys’ stag-rut (in complete contrast to real life). However, the screaming match continued on the girl’s team, with the all-seeing eyes of the classy Karen and Nick less than impressed.
The uncontrollable noise from the girls meetings reflects a similarity within many industries these days. The markets out there are often crowded, noisy places, not easy places for your customers to hear your voice. Sometimes it’s just hard to get heard.
It’s your marketing that gets you heard, and the very best marketing will do this in such a way that you’ll get heard over the din created by everyone else.
Many desperately join in to the cacophony of sound; hoping brash volume will turn heads, Joanna being a prime example. Others sit back, aghast at the wall of sound in front of them, unable or unwilling to get involved. Some crack it with expert advice. And others put up their hands and hope for the best just like Joy.
A hand in the air, will get attention initially but as the old saying goes, sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. And after seeing that hand wafting in the breeze for a few minutes, it no longer registers as relevant.
It is as true with your marketing. Truly uncontested spaces are difficult to find, and it is important that you are able to get noticed, and then create such an impression that it’s your voice that is the one others turn to.
Get heard, make some noise but ensure you can back it up. As Karren Brady put so succinctly, it’s about finding those moments where your words will make the most impact. Don’t think putting your hand in the air is enough. Joy did, and the impact was lost. And even more criminal, when she was given the platform in the boardroom to put her view over, she flunked it.
Throw your enthusiasm and energy into your messages, and find innovative and most importantly, relevant ways for your message to be heard. Pick your moments and strike with impact, understanding and relevance.
Then the next time you get vocal, you’ll see the room quietening a whole lot quicker, with no hands required.
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