The Apprentice 2: Why Raj Lost

The fifth rule didn’t give him any problems either, as he was loyal to his team – if anything, a bit too loyal, as he took responsibility for the contractor rather than trying to put more blame on Kevin for making the choice, even after Trump’s henchman pointed out that if he had recommended a bad contractor, he’d have been fired. He also had a chance to bring Chris into the final Boardroom after he told Trump & Co. that he thought the group was dysfunctional. Carolyn even said that Chris was “disloyal” – something I happen to disagree with, but if she thought it was and Trump agreed, Raj should have considered pulling him in.

The sixth rule says to not show your hand. We didn’t see Raj, in particular, telegraphing his moves – but we did see his henchwoman, Jennifer, doing so when she attacked Ivana before the Boardroom came. This might have given Ivana enough of a hint that she was a target such that she could ready herself and be prepared to defend her activities during this challenge. Jennifer definitely did not help Raj by her actions.

Raj generally followed the seventh rule – playing well with others. He was probably one of the few people left on the show who didn’t have mortal enemies alongside him. However, he failed to follow the “stay professional” part of this rule. That portion was written with the idea of not letting friendships get in the way. However, Raj definitely had some instances when his behavior was not considered professional by others.

The most obvious example of unprofessional behavior was him hitting on the models in the challenge involving creation of a new fashion line. Trump called him out on that one, and I suspect it stuck in his mind. Also in that challenge, we saw Raj run around pulling out fairly ridiculous fabrics to be used in the clothing – again, this looked unprofessional to some of his teammates.

The eighth rule says to focus on the long-term. Raj seemed to be more grounded in the here and now, rather than necessarily thinking ahead. This isn’t always a bad thing in life, but when you’re involved in a competition, you shouldn’t really worry about asking out every pretty woman who crosses your path. It doesn’t give your potential employer a good opinion on what you would be like on the job (although with Trump and his affinity for models, who knows).

Ninth we have the rule to think outside the box, but not too far. Raj is definitely an outside-the-box kind of guy. But sometimes he annoyed his fellow players by going too far. The militaristic NYPD ad campaign was one example of the latter, though most of his teammates went along with him on that one. Sure, there are some people who really want to serve their country and head to the front lines. But the front lines are where people die. I don’t think comparing the NYPD to the front lines of a war was really the smartest idea. If people wanted to be on the front lines, they could sign up for the armed forces. The ad should have focused on what being a police officer meant. He stood by it, but it was still the wrong decision.

Finally, we need to look at whether Raj used common sense. I don’t really think there is anything specifically positive or negative we can say here, other than referring back up to my earlier discussion of whether he really should have brought Ivana into the final Boardroom. However, we didn’t really see Trump & Co. make any comments indicating that he shouldn’t until he had already done so. So I’m not really sure that’s an issue.

In his final words during his long cab ride off the show (as shown on Yahoo), Raj said he thinks he lost because Trump was focused on this particular task, not on everyone’s performance overall. I think it’s just the opposite. Trump even said that Raj made too many wrong decisions, and I don’t think he was talking only about this challenge. Raj suggested and then pushed for the NYPD ad campaign, which had happened only a week (in game time – probably just a few days in real time) earlier and was probably still on Trump’s mind.

This was then compounded with his decision to convert the four-bedroom house to a three-bedroom, to hire a contractor that he didn’t feel was right for the job, to add in a bathroom without having the time to actually make it look like a usable bathroom, etc. Bad decision followed bad decision.

Yes, it’s important to stand up and say, “I made this decision,” even if it’s a bad one. Showing leadership is the most important rule for a reason, and Raj did that. However, there are many leaders out there who make decisions and stand by them – but they are simply poor choices. Trump doesn’t just want a leader, he wants a good leader. He wants somebody who can make the right decisions.

There were many things that Raj did right. But there were many other things that he did wrong. Nobody is perfect, but Raj showed too many instances of choosing the wrong path. That is why Raj lost.

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David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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