The Apprentice 3: Why John Lost

However, John had an opportunity to take a shot at Chris in the Boardroom, and he failed to use it. When Trump & Co. asked the question of whether Chris could have done negotiating and production, both Erin and John agreed that he could not have. Trump even pointed out that they were exonerating Chris! For Erin, this was fine. But John was the alternate target. He needed to realize this and make some attempt to portray Chris as shirking his duties.

The fifth rule is where John really fell apart: Play well with others, but stay professional. John did neither. In this episode, John acted like a male chauvinist pig. Maybe he thought he was being funny. Maybe he thought bringing pretty ladies along would indeed help negotiations. But his teammates were not props, and they did not appreciate being treated as such.

We saw glimpses of this behavior the previous week, when he kept telling Audrey that she was pretty and had a nice personality and would therefore go far. She insisted she had a brain, but we didn’t really see any sign of it and it was therefore easy to ignore her and side with John. This time, however, his statements and actions were so over-the-top and so broad (no pun intended) that it came out of the TV and slapped the viewer upside the head. I can’t imagine, after seeing that, any woman wanting to work with John.

Sixth is to focus on the long-term. By stepping up and taking the lead in negotiations, John was trying to show Donald Trump that he was a leader and worth watching. This was smart. However, the flipside is that John treated his teammates like dirt. This is not smart, especially in the long-term. Even if John had managed to squeak by this time, he had put himself in a situation where he would have been on a team with three women, all of whom he had insulted. The fact is that he would have been a target and it is unlikely that he could have made it to the end under such circumstances.

We’ve already talked somewhat about John’s negotiations. But now we’re at the seventh rule, thinking outside the box. John failed here as well. The other team had some great packages, including spending a week with the musician or appearing in a music video or on TV with them. John’s big idea? Have the band play a concert at somebody’s house. Oooh, how original. What’s worse is that he used the same idea over and over again! John failed to think big, and it cost him.

The eighth rule says you can’t be one-dimensional, meaning contestants can’t just be good salespeople, good lawyers, etc. John tried to show that he had multiple talents and was a good leader on top of it. However, as we’ve discussed, he failed.

Finally, we come to the use of common sense. We’ve already addressed many of things that any person should know better than to do – interrupting, talking about yourself, being rude, being sexist, being a jerk, etc. Either John didn’t know better, or he thought he was being funny in many of these cases. If it was the latter, he was definitely wrong.

Before we wrap this all up, I want to address an item about Chris, who was likely to get fired if John hadn’t been. There was a lot of talk about Chris delegating the important negotiation task. But let’s not forget that Kendra also delegated that task on the other team – and they won. There were two important tasks, and both project managers independently agreed on which one needed their attention most, so I find it hard to criticize Chris for this decision.

John stepped up to say he could do the negotiating, but he did a poor job. In fact, he did such a poor job (which includes not just the negotiating itself but the way he treated his coworkers) that even Chris yelling at Carolyn and George did not turn the tide. John could not back up his claims with action; he could not back up his attitude with accomplishment. That is why John lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Apprentice 3 Episode 8 recap:

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

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recent articles on this show at our The Apprentice page and take a look at our sections on Survivor: All-Stars and Celebrity Mole. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about The Apprentice, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: The Apprentice!