The Apprentice Week 11: Emphasis on boardroom battles brings out the worst in people

Thanks for nothing BAFTA. By awarding the prize for best reality show to the Young Apprentice you’ve practically guaranteed another dose of this increasingly tiresome competition. The decline of the programme was evident before the Young Apprentice aired but that series was the most cynical. When Lord Sugar summarily dismissed the whole of the losing team, irrespective of their previous performance, his Lordship and the programme makers showed that they didn’t actually care which of the young people won.

Because performance on the tasks has become less important – it’s the business idea that is most critical – this series has shown us significantly more of the boardroom bickering and backstabbing. This emphasises the competitive culture which is obviously at the very heart of the show. 

Competitive cultures can be effective when unpopular decisions have to be taken and where there is time pressure. However, they also lead to much less collaboration because people will be operating in the implicit belief that: “If you win then I lose”. (It was instructive that Lord Sugar’s less than gracious acceptance speech at the BAFTAs emphasised the fact that he, a relative TV newcomer, had won and they, the TV professionals, had lost.)

In essence, this type of culture means that people and teams seek to dominate others and power is central to this – both in its acquisition and its use. As Adam, the team leader to produce luxury goods, said: “Everyone’s in here for themselves”. This in turn makes it increasingly likely that lying, cheating, bullying, etc will occur. These anti-social behaviours are to a great extent ignored in the show because the only criterion for judging success is the amount of money made. 

In this show Nick, having camouflaged his opinions during the task, became highly critical of the team’s decisions in the boardroom. It is this type of duplicity which is typical of a competitive culture. At least Jade and Adam made decisions even though they may not have been great ones. Jade and Adam weren’t slow either in pointing out the faults of the others and puffing up their own supposed achievements. In the end, Jade’s passion in the boardroom saved her and Adam deserved to be shown the exit. 

Jade is lucky to be in the final so I can only think that she has the invisible shield of a winning business idea.