And then there were six. Last week on Donald Trump’s NBC reality television show “The Apprentice,” it was down to a half-dozen candidates with a very subjective assignment.

Once again, moving away from profits, the winning teams would be decided by an opinion. Although both teams worked genuinely hard on the project, Mosaic lost and Mr. Trump reminded them that success has many fathers while failure is always an orphan. Project manager Andy, the 22-year Harvard debate champion, got the Trump-A-Dump because he was unable to grasp the magnitude of his role both in the boardroom and out.

Apex started as the bigger team with four (Kevin, Ivana, Jen, and Kelly), but instead of bonding, there was immediate strife among the women. Both Ivana and Jen wanted to be anointed project manager. Kelly solved that squabble by putting all of their names in a hat and drawing himself. And, although this women’s pow-wow had no effect on the task of designing a new bottle for Pepsi Edge (Jen was shoved over to Mosaic when Mr. Trump asked Kelly to “give someone up” to even out the teams), ironically, it became the root of the eventual boardroom scene.

Episode 12 Turning Points

There shouldn’t have been a lot of moving parts in this task, but over energized Andy – apparently fueled by drinking way too much Pepsi – just couldn’t help himself. His team designed a bottle and campaign that required a manual to understand.

Their campaign idea was to draw out geography-eager consumers by introducing Pepsi Edge as the “best of both worlds” with collectable “country” bottle caps that would build continents and a bottle covered with a shrink-wrapped globe and ocean-colored design.

Not only did they turn the package into a mystery product and design an academic theme that defies the “cool and youthful” image of Pepsi – but they ignored required marketing features like keeping the bottle size in regulation with current cup holders in cars and movie theaters.

Andy, Jen, and Sandy created chaos. Kelly, Ivana, and Kevin stayed simple; they pushed the envelope with their contemporary design. Apex wanted this Pepsi bottle to catch the eye of the consumer by being different yet even more practical. The word “edge” was spelled out in plastic on the bottle with a hole running through it that could hold a coupon, movie ticket, personal, or promotional item. By carving out the letters but keeping the bottle clear, the Pepsi Edge product could still be seen. And by keeping the bottom regulation size, they would still fit inside auto and movie-theater cup holders. After conducting a brief focus group with his own marketing “apprentices,” David Burwick, chief marketing officer of Pepsi, called Mr. Trump and announced that Apex was the clear winner with their exciting idea. Rewarded on their speed, the winners were flown on Mr. Trump’s helicopter to the Pocono Raceway and each one was given a Lamborghini to drive.

In the boardroom, there were no broken wheels on Mosaic’s three-person team, only a broken idea, so Andy took the heat and went from the suite to the street.

Episode 12: Lessons Learned

LESSON ONE Know your client and your client’s customer. Theoretically, the task was designed to pass the test of Pepsi executives. However, the real test was to design a product that would appeal to the consumer. Mosaic ignored the current Pepsi branding themes of “exciting and hip” and ignored the needs of the consumer by creating a useless-sized package and a complicated promotion. In this case, the client and the client’s customer were both unsatisfied.

LESSON TWO Motivation is in the eye of the employee. When hungry employees are presented with $100 bills that they cannot immediately spend or hot delicious pizzas that they can immediately eat…they want the food. Andy’s lame attempt to keep the designers happy and excited about the concept was more about motivating himself than the staff. Acting like Mr. Big Shot by flaunting $100 bills made him feel good, but did not motivate the employees, who were more focused on lunch than their bank accounts.

LESSON THREE Stand up for yourself. Sandy knew she was being dumped on because it was a convenient choice for both Andy and Jen. But she didn’t take it. In the boardroom, she made it clear that her firing should be merit-based and if she didn’t deserve it she shouldn’t get it. Andy’s failure to respond to her and stand up for his reasons led to his own firing. In this case, it wasn’t about the losing, but how you chose to fight.

In the next episode, we are down to five and it is starting to get very personal. Stay tuned.