The Apprentice 2: Why Wes Lost

Then, Wes made the same mistake that Kwame made at the end of the first season. When he saw somebody screwing up, he didn’t pull the person out of that situation. For Kwame, it was the returning Omarosa who caused the problem. For Wes, it was Maria. Bill Rancic asked Wes flat-out why he didn’t bench her. Wes’ answer that you don’t get rid of 25% of your work force sounded good but really didn’t explain anything. I say you do get rid of 25% of your workforce if that 25% is causing major problems that may well result in your loss! It’s called “addition by subtraction.” I’ve seen it in action, and it does indeed work.

The sixth rule is to not show your hand before heading into the Boardroom. Maria definitely showed hers – to the point that Wes knew he was being lobbied against. But Wes also said some things to Andy. Maybe he was hoping Andy would side with him, but it certainly didn’t work out that way.

Wes did follow the seventh rule, playing well with others. Well, presuming he ever played. It all comes back to the whole cool/cold discussion we had earlier. He seemed nice enough, but I’m just not sure about all of what was there.

In discussing Maria’s shortcomings (and hooo-boy, were there plenty of those!), I mentioned that she did not think long-term in this challenge. If she had, she would have listened to Wes when he told her to hurry up the photo shoot, and then blamed him if they still lost. Similarly, Wes did not think long-term either. If he had, he would have realized what a poor leader he was being. Even if taking Maria off the project would have meant a definite loss, at least it would have been showing some leadership. It would have shown Trump that Wes could take control of the situation. It could have benefited him in the long run. But now, of course, there is no long run.

Wes also failed in thinking outside the box. We saw it earlier with the dog challenge, when all he could do was concentrate on doggie baths while the other team came up with a variety of ideas. We saw it again this time – he was not in any way, shape, or form the creative force behind the Levi’s campaign. He was pretty much Project Manager in name only, and Maria ran the show (ran it right into the ground, but she still ran it). She did all the thinking during this task, and Wes probably didn’t even know where the box was, let alone how to get out of it.

Finally, we have the all-important rule to use common sense. We’ve already gone over, in earlier discussions, most of what common sense would dictate. Leading doesn’t mean letting somebody else take over. It certainly doesn’t mean letting them mouth off to you and stick their finger in your face. It most definitely doesn’t mean letting one employee kick another employee out of the room and then having a 20-minute fight ensue.

Beyond that, having common sense also means you don’t walk into a presentation for Levi’s if you’re not wearing Levi’s. Andy understood this and suggested that they either go for formal with suits or go with Levi’s. Wes apparently didn’t think it important and blew off Andy. Alas, the Levi’s judges did think it was important. Another stellar decision there, Wes.

Mind you, that may have been one of the few decisions Wes actually made as a Project Manager. Another was turning down Stacy’s idea for diversification the first time he was Project Manager. Hmmm, I see a pattern – and not a good one. But managers make wrong decisions all the time. What really killed Wes was his complete and total inability to lead. He allowed strong personalities to walk all over him. The strongest of them, Maria, led them straight to defeat. Since Wes had been unable or unwilling to actually do something about her, she led him straight to defeat as well. That is why Wes lost.

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

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