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Randal to the Rescue
When none of the four Excel members summoned to the boardroom returned,
those remaining in the suite spoke in hushed tones, confused and shocked by
the
unprecedented circumstances. At the task assignment meeting the next
morning,
Mr. Trump confirmed their darkest suspicious:
Josh,
James,
Mark, and
Jennifer M. were indeed
all fired. To level out the now uneven corporations, Trump allowed Excel
its choice of one candidate from Capital Edge, and once again
Randal proved MVP by consensus.
With Randal back on board with Excel, Mr. Trump described the week's
task: to create and present a brand new class through the Learning
Annex, with the winner to be determined by audience ratings.
Adam admitted to feeling the pressure but stepped up as project manager
for Capital Edge. Meanwhile for Excel, Randal nominated himself for what
would be his second term as a PM.
All-Nighters and Sexual Problems
Randal eagerly took control of Excel, seizing the opportunity to get another
win under his belt. Despite their PM's enthusiasm, Excel members
Brian,
Marshawn and
Rebecca were skeptical that their class, "Stand Out: How to Make Your
Mark", had enough zing. But as Rebecca noted, the responsibility rolled up
to Randal:
"It's really up to him to make it work."
Things were much rockier at Capital Edge. PM
Adam was initially cool to the steamy theme of their class, "Sex at
Work". "I don't think Adam wanted to use the word 'sex'," said Clay,
"because, frankly, I don't think Adam has ever had sex." Equally
problematic was
Markus, whom
Adam had to pull aside repeatedly to keep him from
derailing the group. Markus refused to brainstorm, couldn't articulate
his ideas and barely did any research.
But during the seminar, it was Clay who brought the corporation down with
his joking comments on his own homosexuality and Adam's ethnic background.
Clay apologized for referring to Adam as a "tight Jewish boy," but by
then it was
impossible to apologize to the audience. "Clay was the king of
awkward moments during the presentation," said
Felisha.
Carolyn had a more scathing take: "I don't know what they're
teaching," she said. "It's funny, but it's not
educational."
Sex Sells (Not!)
Before both corporations heard the final verdict in the boardroom, Excel
looked cool, calm and collected--with the whole corporation happy about
their presentation as well as
Randal's leadership. And their confidence was well founded. The results
became apparent once
Carolyn began reading comments from the Capital Edge questionnaires:
"No agenda...No flow of ideas...Poor presentation skills...It was boring for
a juicy topic."
A buoyant Excel savored their victory by getting personally styled by world
famous designer
Michael Kors in his Madison Avenue boutique. "Janet Jackson and
Britney Spears--usually they're the ones who get the stores closed down for
them," marveled
Marshawn. "But we got it closed for us today." In the end, Excel
looked like superstars who were truly dressed for success, while Capital
Edge seemed a little ragged around the edges as they headed toward a
boardroom showdown.
Dirty Talk and Dirty Work
Once under the boardroom microscope, it became clear that Capital Edge's
controversial seminar on sex in the workplace had worked against them for
three big reasons: PM
Adam's lack of knowledge with the subject matter,
Clay's inappropriate statements and
Markus' feeble contributions.
Trump suggested that Adam was ill-suited to the corporation's chosen
topic:
"Adam isn't good with sex." Far more problematic was Clay's joking
reference to Adam as a "tight Jewish boy." Clay later apologized but
George took offense at the ethnic slight and said that such attitudes
have
no place in business Adam said he didn't believe Clay was anti-Semitic
though he criticized Clay's provocative references during the presentation.
When Trump asked Markus point blank why Capital Edge lost, Markus pondered,
"Where to begin…" He then drifted off the point,
talking in circles without saying much. He criticized Clay's homosexual
references, but Clay's sexual orientation was a non-issue for Trump:
"That's why they have menus in restaurants. I like steak, somebody else
likes spaghetti." Carolyn confronted Markus bluntly: "I believe you
believe in the 'cover your ass' theory." Trump concurred, saying,
"Markus. You talk too much. You talk in riddles and on this task you didn't
do a very good job." Though Adam and Clay had performed poorly, in the
end they were spared. "Markus," Trump said,
"you're fired."
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