Anatomy of a Do-It-Yourself Firing

The continuing set up of season three of “The Apprentice” – the book smart against the street smart – could not have been more appropriate than in last week’s show involving the success story of Home Depot.With $70 billion in sales, this chain has revolutionized home renovations by becoming the leading do-it-yourself retailer.Last week, the teams on “The Apprentice” were asked to create and operate an in-store “Do It Yourself Clinic” at Home Depot featuring the product of their choice. The winning team would be judged by Home Depot executives on three criteria: product innovation, customer satisfaction, and originality.Magna won hands down with their space-saver storage box, beating out NetWorth’s kitchen island on wheels. And it was Erin who was the victim of last week’s Trump-A-Dump.Magna project manager Craig, with the support of his teammates, knew that he lacked communication skills to fully explain his vision and ideas. Fortunately, Craig let his instincts do all the work. He knew customers were there to “buy” something, not “learn” something. Magna chose the easy-to-build box with multiple uses as its featured product, and it was a big winner from start to finish.Quickly assembled, the boxes were painted in white, and Tana put together a station to decorate them with the handprints of shoppers’ children, making the boxes timeless keepsakes. With bowls of candy to nibble on, lots of color, happy and upbeat Apprentices, and even a stationary black box on which kids could chalk their autograph, Craig’s instincts had guided Magna to an ideal DIY clinic, with parents walking out of the store with both a practical and pretty product, and a positive experience.NetWorth, on the other hand, went complicated and cold. With her crown molding idea quickly slammed by her teammates, project manager Angie agreed to a mobile kitchen island. Even after it took them seven hours to build it – they refused to switch, and proceeded with a “Do It Yourself Clinic” that they could not effectively teach. Angie was drowned out by the sounds of the drill, and Chris began building it upside down. It was more a demonstration of a “Don’t Do It Yourself” clinic.Already outnumbered by Magna five to four, when NetWorth’s Erin, the beauty queen lawyer, refused to participate by claiming she had no knowledge of hammers (and was unwilling to learn), this put NetWorth at a two person disadvantage in both ideas and effort.The Home Depot judges blasted NetWorth and declared Craig’s Magna team the clear winners. For its high customer score, Magna got a prize that would take them even higher – a flight in a zero-gravity airplane used for training astronauts to experience weightlessness.In the boardroom, NetWorth’s Angie kept her mouth shut and out of trouble after Donald Trump said how insistent Carolyn and George were that she be spared. The Donald attacked Erin for doing nothing, and Chris for once again chewing tobacco. Chris announced he would be “tobacco free” for the duration of “The Apprentice” season and forever, if hired by Mr. Trump.In an odd and desperate twist, when Erin couldn’t defend herself and gave up swinging on Chris – she went after Mr. Trump for listening to George and Carolyn. Hello? Hearing “Erin, you’re fired!” was the inevitable result of that gesture.Lessons LearnedLESSON ONE Keep it simple in concept and time. Craig knew his storage box was an easy do-it-yourself project that would attract customers because it was quick to assemble and its purpose was useful. By blending some thing old and familiar (toy chest or storage box) with something new and exciting (building and designing it yourself) – he met both the needs of the customer and the overall mission of Home Depot.LESSON TWO Customize your marketing. Publicity builds awareness, but marketing builds action. So when Tana created a handprint station with a myriad of colors for children to personalize their own toy chest, she created must-haves for the parents. And when Alex brought out letter stencils to paint their names with colors and flowers, Magna continued to generate sales activity. They gave a boring product charisma and warmth, and attracted customers to their clinic and sales to the cash registers.LESSON THREE Beauty can be a beast – especially if you think it will exempt you from bad behavior. Admitting to her lack of participation on this task, Erin felt her good looks were the only defense she would need. She dumped on her teammate Chris for his tobacco habit and then on The Donald for following advice from loyal Carolyn and George. Erin’s unwillingness to help her team and use of personal attacks and insults as a way out caused Mr. Trump to see the inner beast beneath her beauty, which took her from the suite to the street.Next week on our favorite NBC reality show, it’s 3-on-5. We can expect a team-balancing trade and more great lessons.Stay tuned.Mr. Whitehead is a consultant specializing in workstyles and career advice. E-mail your questions and comments to trumponomics@aol.com.

Anatomy of a Do-It-Yourself Firing

Anatomy of a Do-It-Yourself Firing

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