10 avril
Does "The Apprentice" Reflect Good Management?
Do you watch
The Apprentice with the Donald? I've watched every season and pretty much every show. People have asked me what I think about the show and as a manager does it reflect management in the real world. It may reflect some managers and how they view management (such as Donald Trump), but what about the rest of us???
Though I watch the show purely for entertainment, I tried to watch it from this perspective. I found there was little I could take that was positive for management, but I learned a lot of things not to do such as:
Sacrificing other people for your own gain. The whole purpose of the show is to win. In order to win, somebody must lose. Therefore, to save your own self, you must shift the blame to others. Isn't leadership about taking responsibility for your own actions?
Take on too much to look good (or likewise, take on too little to escape blame). Instead of properly delegating the work to those that are most qualified, it seems that the "Project Manager" ends up assigning tasks only to make themselves look good. Therefore, people on the team are wasted resources many of the times. You see very little teamwork demonstrated each week, but you see plenty of individual competition.
Assuming that your upbringing defines you as a person. It seems that the Donald is more impressed by where you worked or where you received your MBA or how you look, then you as a person. Just because you went to Harvard Business School doesn't automatically mean that you are one of the best leaders of the country and capable of running large business. It just means you had a great education (and perhaps one that others don't get the priviledge), but that only can't take the place of real experience.
Motivation by fear and intimidation. The whole premise is that you don't want to see the Donald in the boardroom. The boardroom is a scary place. It's even dark and has scary music in the background. I hate this kind of motivation. What if you worked each day with the thought that you could be fired at the end of each day by the boss that you will only see if that occurs? What does this tell you about the boss (not approachable) or the work environment (not fun)?
Playing it safe. Where's the risk taking? Where's the thinking outside of the box? It does happen rarely on the show, but if you stick your neck out too far, you could get it cut off. Therefore, many of the times the results are very weak. Shouldn't it be all about great results?
Again, I don't want to take the show too seriously because it is for entertainment purposes thus it's highly edited and manipulated in order to make ratings. I'm sure that the contestants have some good qualities and have proven themselves before they came to the show.
I'm also hope that they know the right ways to be a great leader. Not sure about the Donald though...