Outsource. Primarius made a wise decision to hire a floral designing expert. When you lack the experience or expertise internally in the company, outsource to the experts. It's a winning strategy.
 

Be flexible! Well into their selling day, Primarius teammates recognized their pricing strategy was flawed. In order for the original strategy to work, Primarius needed to connect better to people who knew the designer's work. Perhaps the designer had a list of past clients Primarius might have called for a special showing of exclusive new arrangements. Fortunately, the team recognized its mistake and instead of sticking with their losing strategy, they dropped prices significantly before it was too late; flower arrangements started  flying out the door.

 The bottom line? When it becomes clear that a strategy isn't working, having the organizational flexibility to shift gears and adjust the strategy is crucial.
 

Work as a team. In sharp contrast to their competition, Primarius members worked solidly as a team. They rolled up their sleeves together. Instead of focusing their time and energy on bringing each other down, they focused on winning by getting consensus over pricing strategy. This involved team members being acknowledged for their concerns and being open to influence. Both are important for successful teams.
 

Leadership and people skills. Chuck lacked leadership ability and, to his credit, acknowledged this shortcoming. He had no tools for dealing with conflict on his team. Leadership is tough and requires people skills to deal with the inevitable people management issues that will arise. My advice to those lacking these skills: Either get them (hire a coach) or get out. Eventually, reality is going to catch up with you. Thirty-five percent of newly hired managers or supervisors fail in their first 18 months because they lack people management skills.
 

Don't use tacky marketing strategies. Neither Primarius nor Matchstick had effective or creative marketing. Both relied on the ever-so-tiresome strategy of sending women out on the streets at night in high heels. While sex sells, putting women on the street is neither creative nor particularly effective. Matchstick tried putting attractive women in Dutch costumes as street peddlers. This didn't impress Martha, the queen of good taste and high standards.
 

Quitters don't fit! Martha Stewart -- the poster woman for someone who can take her lumps -- lectured Chuck with, "Quitters. Forget it." I agree with her. Winners in business (or anywhere else in life) pick themselves up by their bootstraps, learn from their experiences and keep going -- without whining. Midway through the task, Chuck, Matchstick's product manager, was overcome by the chaos and tension in the group and tried to quit. His colleagues talked him into staying, and to his credit, he regrouped and got his team through the task. In the conference room with Martha Stewart, he accepted responsibility for his team's loss, but he came across as being very weak and looked as though he couldn't recover. Ms. Stewart was not impressed, telling Chuck that she had never quit anything in her life, in spite of all of her ups and downs.

People look to their leaders for inspiration. The leader of a firm is supposed to be able to deal with the challenges facing the organization more effectively than rank-and-file employees. A real leader propels the firm forward. When Chuck appeared to be helpless and wanted to bail out on his team, he wasn't being a good leader. As Stewart said, he had his chance to lead, and he couldn't do it. Chuck is probably a very creative, conscientious person, but he is not executive material for a corporation like Martha Stewart Omnimedia.

The bottom line? There are times when any leader is uncertain of what is to come, or about whether a venture will succeed. If they are smart, leaders keep those self-doubts to themselves and display confidence when dealing with their employees.
 

"Women in business don't cry, my dear." This is a direct quote from Martha that serves as a warning on how she expects female candidates to behave. Stewart has demonstrated she has neither time nor patience for crying whiners.