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This week's assignment:
After three weeks,
Matchstick was a disaster. Three consecutive losses had ravaged their ranks,
constricted their confidence, and tarnished their spirit. Around the loft,
rival corporation Primarius couldn't help but conduct themselves with a
certain satisfied swagger. Things were looking dim for Matchstick - but
Martha Stewart had a plan. One brave candidate from Primarius would
volunteer to lead Matchstick as project manager for their fourth task.
After Leslie bravely nominated herself to make the switch to Matchstick,
Martha challenged the candidates to renovate a luxury Westin Hotel suite. As
the corporations labored to make their conceptual visions a reality, one
corporation's faith in their project manager was shaken by a controversial
decision. A candidate stirred up simmering resentment by refusing to help
complete an all-night paint job. And with minutes to go before the deadline,
one corporation found themselves missing a key piece of their vision.
In a valiant effort to spin the debacle as
"open" space, they lost again with one judge remarking that it reminded him
of his college days when he "couldn't afford furniture." Primarius, on the
other hand, delivered both furniture and vision with an entertainment theme
incorporating both relaxation and fun. Their suite design included a
theater-style entertainment system, games, candy and a popcorn machine,
sparking the best compliment they could have received: "It doesn't look like
a hotel room." Score!
Ultimately, Primarius persevered, and Matchstick…well, they did what they
usually do -- they lost. In the conference room, Martha mercilessly
scrutinized the perennial also-rans in an effort to answer the question on
everyone's mind: Why can't Matchstick pull it together?
Bethenny and Dawn ended up in Stewart's conference room for
the firing session. Leslie was largely responsible for the team's poor time
management, and Bethenny was responsible for the furniture delivery, but
Stewart concluded that Dawn was a persistent problem due to her poor
attitude. Therefore, Dawn had to say goodbye.
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Lessons Learned
FIT
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Vision.
Both teams came up with inspired visions. Primarius had a suite vision
of "Westin Entertains" with a movie theater, board games and candy.
Matchstick's vision, called "FLOW" -- "For Leisure Or Work " -- was
creative and may have worked had the furniture been delivered.
The best leaders move and inspire others with a vivid, compelling
vision of a desired future that is aligned with their hopes and
dreams. Primarius really got behind its leader's vision of
entertainment and play in the suite.
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Leaders who acknowledge workers.
Amanda, project manager for Primarius,
demonstrated she understood how to motivate people. She cleverly used
sharpened pencil gifts for her team members honoring them as the
"sharpest people I know." A savvy leader understands that it
pays to continue to acknowledge and inspire followers with frequent
praise. Also, Amanda's unique gifts no doubt inspired some
out-of-the-box thinking from her team.
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Brainstorming that encourages wild
ideas. Amanda led a brainstorming session
with her team and encouraged them to put forth their wildest ideas.
One of the ground rules in brainstorming is to encourage all ideas no
matter how wild and crazy they may be. Wild ideas may lead to usable
ideas.
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Leaders who inspire.
Amanda demonstrated good leadership skills. She
inspired her team with a strong vision and was able to create a team
environment that encouraged creativity and collaboration.
UNFIT
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Time
management. Leslie gave her team entirely
too much time to discuss the theme. There are practical limits to
creative brainstorming. Leslie's team had a very limited amount of
time to do a lot of work in remodeling a suite.
While she had the
right idea to spend time developing a strong plan and vision, Leslie
lacked the skills to effectively execute. Her marathon
brainstorming session -- six hours! -- developing the theme did not leave enough time to execute the plan. Critical path
items were not identified and prioritized, leaving contractors with
nothing to do all day. They had to leave at midnight, leaving
Matchstick with the all-night painting task. Also, does it really
require four people to go to the hardware store? It all boils down to
poor planning and an inefficient use of resources.
At some point, things needed to be brought to closure so that the team
could proceed with the assignment.
The bottom line? At the very beginning of the
task, Leslie should have set a time limit for the brainstorming
session. At the end of the allotted time, she needed to push the team
to a conclusion, make a decision on the theme, and get on with the
rest of the task.
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Balance between planning and
execution. Good plans involve the delegation
of resources with clear role definition and attention to
implementation detail. There was no excuse for Matchstick to be
waiting at the 11th hour for furniture delivery. Do you think Stewart
-- or her team -- is waiting on the loading docks two minutes before
her events? Do you think she is going to hire someone who would put
her in that position? Not likely.
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Not being open to influence.
The only area that I would fault Amanda's
leadership was her resistance to be influenced by her team -- and her
interior decorator -- regarding color choice. She adamantly stuck with
her vision of gray walls despite the strong objections of her team.
One said it looked like "prison gray." Somehow I don't think Stewart
wants to be reminded of that color.
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Demonstrating courage and
initiative. While Leslie was willing to take
on the monster task of leading a team on a three-week losing streak,
the other Primarius candidates demurred, showing a lack of courage.
Risk taking and courage are essential leadership traits. True winners
welcome challenges and are willing to take risks. Stewart acknowledged
this and rewarded Leslie by giving her another chance despite losing
the task.
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Not a team player.
In her four-week run on the show, Dawn demonstrated
that she was not a team player. She consistently scowled at team
members and refused to take part in team activities -- for this task,
she refused to paint walls. Being a team player is a must for success
in almost any business today.
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Laziness.
Instead of balking at the idea of having to wield a paintbrush when
crunch time came, Dawn should have been the first one to volunteer,
given the fact that she had already been to the firing session three
times.
The bottom line? Dawn was
simply lazy. When maximum effort is needed from everyone in a work
group, someone who refuses to participate is quickly viewed as
expendable. Because of her poor attitude, Dawn's presence will not be
missed. In fact, her departure may help her team to improve its
effectiveness.
The Endangered
Species List:
The following people are on this week's endangered
species list, based upon the likelihood that they will "just not fit in"
in the near future:
Bethenny (Matchstick): She was back in the conference room
again this week for the firing session, but escaped to come back for
another week.
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Jim (Matchstick): He's still not quite ready to come off the
list because of a wishy-washy answer he gave to Stewart when she asked
him who should be fired. At first he said, "Anyone but me." When Stewart
pressed him for a name, he couldn't decide.
Gold Stars for This Week's Episode:
Amanda
gets a gold star this week for giving her teammates a small token of her
appreciation at the start of the task's second day. Her gesture gave
everyone an emotional lift.
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| The Report Card |
Primarius:
- Effort --
- Performance --
- Creativity --
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"The one
thing I've learned is never overestimate Matchstick. No matter how
bad Primarius does, we always find a way to do worse." |
Matchstick:
- Effort --
- Performance --
- Creativity --
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