The interest in this week’s Apprentice was the conflict between strategy and implementation.
The point of the task was to sell the products at the right price. With hindsight the best approach would have been to get the items valued and prioritise the sales activity in order of value. The winning team showed this dilemma with stark clarity. The team leader assumed that the carpet, (the most valuable product) was worth little, with Lorraine, a team member thinking it was valuable. She however was trying to be more amenable this week to stay in the game so did not push her views. No evidence was gained for the valuation, and the action was based purely on instinct. Not uncommon in business!
The context for the task is of course that often The Apprentice is about selling as much as fast as possible. Getting into action and just going for it.
In business there is often the lure of action because it brings the sense of acheiving something. In fact staying with the discomfort of identifying the strategy longer usually results in more effective action.
My recollections are of the struggle between the urgency of releasing new product and turning the investment into cash, versus the need to hone the product and the marketing to make sure it found the right audience at the right price point. Sales people on one extreme and Research and Development on the other.
It is the perennial battle in small business where results matter and pockets have limits.
Good to see it on the screen.