On the first episode of season three of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” we saw the best side of high-school-educated entrepreneurship when the NetWorth team beat their college graduate Magna rivals in the Burger King competition.

But in episode two, we saw the flip side of the burger bunch. NetWorth gave us TrumpTV’s ugliest-ever performance. The high schoolers lost badly, and behaved even worse.

To be sure, the hotel renovation task was tough, inflicting even the winning Magna team with a weird-but-true sleep deprivation desertion by a team member. The hotel heartbreaks gave us great lessons about the downside of forgetting to eat or sleep, quitting, comebacks, and the business value of both teamwork and fun.

The task sounded simple enough: on a $20,000 budget, refurbish a seedy hotel on the Jersey shore. The winning team would have the highest customer satisfaction scores taken when the guests checked out and completed Yahoo! online surveys.

The questionnaire included ratings on both room conditions and customer service. A simple task, yes, but one providing plenty of drama.

And boy, were these hotels ever noisy.

Episode Two Turning Points

For the first time in “The Apprentice” journey, quitting played a huge role. Unfortunately, so did yelling. Ever-abrasive New Jersey native and real estate entrepreneur, Brian, picked himself as NetWorth’s project manager by out screaming his teammates.

In record time, belligerent Brian’s nasty manner and phobia about agreeing to a plan or a budget frustrated his team beyond the breaking point. Kristen, the team’s finance manager, was horrified at Brian’s lack of budget discipline; they went after each other like rabid beasts. Isolated by his teammates, Brian hired contractors to complete the hotel renovation.

Even alone, Brian made bad decisions, spending money on new toilets rather than replace the disgusting carpets. Despite NetWorth’s best efforts at customer hospitality, the nasty carpets combined with the team’s constant screaming and fighting to yield a low satisfaction score of 2.92 on a 1-to-5 scale. None of NetWorth’s guests at the Surfside Motel seemed to care that the toilets were new.

Magna picked an even tempered team leader, Michael the real estate man. Michael’s team worked around the clock on the Sea Garden Motel, but it was still unfinished when the guests arrived. The pressure got to Verna, who was in charge of the budget and was a front desk greeter. Sleep-deprived and hungry, Verna quit the team and ran away, suitcase in hand. Donald Trump’s ice queen Carolyn retrieved Verna from wandering the streets, resulting in a tearful reunion with her worried teammates.

In the end, Magna sealed the victory by focusing on fun rather than fixtures. The team’s self-appointed chief motivation officer, Danny, staged a pool party, drawing the guests out of their paint scented rooms for drinks on the veranda. By focusing on fun, Magna turned heartbreak into hospitality, and racked up a Yahoo! survey score of 3.96, easily trouncing Brian’s belligerent squad over at the Surfside.

The winners got a dinner with magazine publisher Steven Forbes on his yacht The Highlander and team leader Michael was rewarded with an exemption from firing during next week’s episode.

In the board room, the quitting continued. Belligerent Brian said “yes, you should,” when The Donald asked him whether he should fire him. After a brief discussion for exercise only, Mr. Trump obliged and sent Brian from the suite to the street, leaving two teams of eight each to battle it out next week.

Lessons Learned

LESSON ONE There really is no “I” in team. Brian’s insecurity blinded him in a sandstorm of self-righteousness. Utterly unable to work with his teammates and reduced to hiring down-and-dirty contractors to finish his room renovations, Brian forgot one of Mr. Trump’s key teachings: it takes a team to completely satisfy customers.

LESSON TWO When it comes to customer experience, it is much better to focus on fun than fixtures. As the losing NetWorth team found out, hotel customers hold the memory of a pool party much more dear than the sensation of sitting on a fresh new toilet. Magna kept their eyes on the prize: knowing the experience was more lasting than the renovations.

LESSON THREE Mr. Trump loves nothing more than a great comeback. While Magna team member Verna’s crackup and desertion was shocking, her comeback was even more impressive, especially to The Donald.

With 16 apprentice candidates left for next week’s contest, expect more fireworks from these teams. Both have already proven they are prone to radical mood swings – which make for good television and even better lessons. Stay tuned.

Mr. Whitehead is a consultant specializing in workplace issues and careers. Please e-mail questions and comments to trumponomics@aol.com.