Lord Sugar has always presented himself as being of the 'fake it 'til you make it' school - a street-smart kid with more nouse than people twice his age, better at business than the people running companies he briefly worked for in his teenage years.
And appearances would say it paid off - he didn't have the exam results, the MBA, the network of friends and family to give him early opportunities, but, by every indicator, he's 'made it.' It's understandable, therefore, that the Apprentice candidates frustrate him so much - he faked it until he made it, they're much better off than he was, what's their problem?
The problem is, you CAN'T 'fake it 'til you make it.' It, whatever 'it' is - nouse, a boldness that borders on the offensively entitled, a daring that goes beyond normal risk tolerance, the kind of lateral thinking that sees an opportunity three years before its wave crashes in to shore, and thus has enough time to ride the wave ahead of the crowd, to fully follow the Productive Pessimist pivot protocol we explore in our course 'From Carp About the Day to Carpe Diem', of prepare, position, reach, and seize - has to be there already.
It may manifest as a child who's easily bored, or downright cheeky.
It could be seen in the kid who nicks their Mum's cigarettes, and sells them for a quid a time round the playground, or the teenager who charges a fiver a time for writing essays.
It might show up in the girl who pays someone on Fiverr to do her homework for her when her school bans pupils from doing homework for other students.
It may be the boy who doesn't return to school for his GCSEs, because, on holiday abroad, he talked his way into a partnership running a bar.
It could be the group of friends who take a meme page viral, and use that to hook corporate marketing contracts.
The reason we're not seeing the kinds of business talent like Alan Sugar and Richard Branson coming through is because we're literally shutting it down.
Kids are punished for selling items to other kids on school property. It's a 'violation of the school's code of conduct' to do someone else's homework for them, or to solicit someone else to do your homework for you. The UK government is exacting ever-harsher punishments on parents whose kids drop out of school, regardless of their motivation.
Teachers are wary of 'initiative.' Initiative is what has kids using ChatGPT to write their essays for them. Initiative is why there's all these pronouns and genders these days, which have ruined so many schools' reputations for "not having any problems with bullying here."
Bullying itself, which is actually a deeply unpleasant, but necessary, form of social 'sorting hat', has been so shut down at its lower levels that only the extreme ends - brutal physical violence, sadistic psychological torture - are left as outlets for a process we need to go through.
I was bullied daily, including physical violence, throughout my five years at high school. It certainly wasn't 'character forming'. It didn't 'teach me resilience', and it certainly didn't 'make me conform to what's expected'.
And appearances would say it paid off - he didn't have the exam results, the MBA, the network of friends and family to give him early opportunities, but, by every indicator, he's 'made it.' It's understandable, therefore, that the Apprentice candidates frustrate him so much - he faked it until he made it, they're much better off than he was, what's their problem?
The problem is, you CAN'T 'fake it 'til you make it.' It, whatever 'it' is - nouse, a boldness that borders on the offensively entitled, a daring that goes beyond normal risk tolerance, the kind of lateral thinking that sees an opportunity three years before its wave crashes in to shore, and thus has enough time to ride the wave ahead of the crowd, to fully follow the Productive Pessimist pivot protocol we explore in our course 'From Carp About the Day to Carpe Diem', of prepare, position, reach, and seize - has to be there already.
It may manifest as a child who's easily bored, or downright cheeky.
It could be seen in the kid who nicks their Mum's cigarettes, and sells them for a quid a time round the playground, or the teenager who charges a fiver a time for writing essays.
It might show up in the girl who pays someone on Fiverr to do her homework for her when her school bans pupils from doing homework for other students.
It may be the boy who doesn't return to school for his GCSEs, because, on holiday abroad, he talked his way into a partnership running a bar.
It could be the group of friends who take a meme page viral, and use that to hook corporate marketing contracts.
The reason we're not seeing the kinds of business talent like Alan Sugar and Richard Branson coming through is because we're literally shutting it down.
Kids are punished for selling items to other kids on school property. It's a 'violation of the school's code of conduct' to do someone else's homework for them, or to solicit someone else to do your homework for you. The UK government is exacting ever-harsher punishments on parents whose kids drop out of school, regardless of their motivation.
Teachers are wary of 'initiative.' Initiative is what has kids using ChatGPT to write their essays for them. Initiative is why there's all these pronouns and genders these days, which have ruined so many schools' reputations for "not having any problems with bullying here."
Bullying itself, which is actually a deeply unpleasant, but necessary, form of social 'sorting hat', has been so shut down at its lower levels that only the extreme ends - brutal physical violence, sadistic psychological torture - are left as outlets for a process we need to go through.
I was bullied daily, including physical violence, throughout my five years at high school. It certainly wasn't 'character forming'. It didn't 'teach me resilience', and it certainly didn't 'make me conform to what's expected'.
What it did do was show me that my innate gift was standing up against the majority for something I believed in - even when it took everything I had to keep standing.
The bullying I experienced at school has resurged in my adult life - and, once again, I stand up against the crowd, against the media, against my own government, even, simply by existing. By meeting fire with fire if I have to, and with dark humour if I can (dark humour disconcerts bullies...you're meant to be upset, not amused...the darker you go, the more worried they get!) The greatest response to bullies is to simply to continue to exist. They hate that. And it also teaches the bullies a necessary lesson - that the world isn't going to alter itself to their personal preferences just because they throw a tantrum at it.
What does this have to do with The Apprentice?
The bullying I experienced at school has resurged in my adult life - and, once again, I stand up against the crowd, against the media, against my own government, even, simply by existing. By meeting fire with fire if I have to, and with dark humour if I can (dark humour disconcerts bullies...you're meant to be upset, not amused...the darker you go, the more worried they get!) The greatest response to bullies is to simply to continue to exist. They hate that. And it also teaches the bullies a necessary lesson - that the world isn't going to alter itself to their personal preferences just because they throw a tantrum at it.
What does this have to do with The Apprentice?
This post aims to explore the past four weeks of BBC One's The Apprentice - how does bullying relate to that?
Bullying is one of the things Lord Sugar often gets accused of by his detractors, and certainly The Apprentice is often edited to show the worst of Lord Sugar in his interactions with candidates (it wouldn't be half as entertaining if he was nice to them all the time, would it?)
People will say that "it's so unnecessary!" - but it's actually vitally important. Lord Sugar is almost certainly going to work day in, day out with other business people who are as focused on getting what they want as he is on getting what he wants. There will be a compromise, eventually - but not before both sides have proved their mettle to each other, and shown that they have earned the respect that allows for compromise.
That show of position is going to look a lot like bullying. It's going to become intense, aggressive, and downright intimidating - and to succeed at the heights of business, where a lot of other peoples' money is often at stake, you have to prove that you can handle that. Because your fellow business colleague knows that you're both going to leave your negotiations, and face employees who are trying to coerce you into letting them bend the rules, giving them pay rises when they're not taking on additional responsibilities, letting them out of responsibilities they already have, agreeing to flexible working patterns that disrupt the work of their colleagues, you're going to be dealing with customers and clients who are going to be at their absolute worst, and acting as though they were raised feral, you're going to be facing increasingly punitive legislation from governments that seem to have no idea what they're actually doing... and you have to remain calm, even-tempered, and engaged throughout it all.
If you can't survive deserved criticism, and mockery for things you actually screwed up on, the kind of business world Lord Sugar lives in will destroy you without even being aware of it.
The 'mild' end of bullying - vicious criticism, mockery, verbal aggression, dismissive attitudes - shows you what sphere of working life you can handle.
A candidate who becomes overwhelmed when they're expected to 'take complete responsibility as a leader' is not cut out for leadership - because 'complete responsibility' in leadership includes the responsibility for appropriate delegation, which itself includes the ability to remain calm whilst reminding people they were given responsibilities which should be well within their capabilities.
That person's strengths lie in an area where their responsibilities are clearly set out, and limited to specifics. They could, for example, be an exceptional Executive Assistant, a brilliant recruiter, estate agent, or consultant. They can lead themselves, and they can organise others, but they need a stable, predictable operating environment.
Individuals who struggle to see things from their customers' perspective, or who don't think about where they're most likely to find their customers in the first place (if you're selling a river cruise, head to the river - the people there are already interested in it. If you're selling wine tastings, go to the tourist-focused pubs - the people there are already willing to spend money on alcohol) don't have the internal 'gearing' to be good as salespeople. They're not going to succeed on the delivery side - but they might be the greatest design team you've ever had.
Individuals who become too focused on 'what's going to engage individual customers watching an advert', when they're selling to corporate clients, and therefore need to focus on "You have X problem, this is the solution" (with the e-vehicle 'shop', the positioning to corporates should have centred on abandoned carts in the online retail space, while the 'e-bnb' could have positioned more for the emerging enterprise of '35+ clubbing/festivals' - older festival-goers are more likely to jump at the opportunity to have the 'camping experience' in genuine comfort, if a company were to buy a fleet of 'e-bnbs', they could lease them to disability organisations, which would support those organisations' clients attending music events and other festivals, which is something many disabled people are shut out from because of accessibility challenges...) then their business acumen is more direct sales-focused. They would be fantastic leaders in novel D2C entrepreneurship.
Bullying is one of the things Lord Sugar often gets accused of by his detractors, and certainly The Apprentice is often edited to show the worst of Lord Sugar in his interactions with candidates (it wouldn't be half as entertaining if he was nice to them all the time, would it?)
People will say that "it's so unnecessary!" - but it's actually vitally important. Lord Sugar is almost certainly going to work day in, day out with other business people who are as focused on getting what they want as he is on getting what he wants. There will be a compromise, eventually - but not before both sides have proved their mettle to each other, and shown that they have earned the respect that allows for compromise.
That show of position is going to look a lot like bullying. It's going to become intense, aggressive, and downright intimidating - and to succeed at the heights of business, where a lot of other peoples' money is often at stake, you have to prove that you can handle that. Because your fellow business colleague knows that you're both going to leave your negotiations, and face employees who are trying to coerce you into letting them bend the rules, giving them pay rises when they're not taking on additional responsibilities, letting them out of responsibilities they already have, agreeing to flexible working patterns that disrupt the work of their colleagues, you're going to be dealing with customers and clients who are going to be at their absolute worst, and acting as though they were raised feral, you're going to be facing increasingly punitive legislation from governments that seem to have no idea what they're actually doing... and you have to remain calm, even-tempered, and engaged throughout it all.
If you can't survive deserved criticism, and mockery for things you actually screwed up on, the kind of business world Lord Sugar lives in will destroy you without even being aware of it.
The 'mild' end of bullying - vicious criticism, mockery, verbal aggression, dismissive attitudes - shows you what sphere of working life you can handle.
A candidate who becomes overwhelmed when they're expected to 'take complete responsibility as a leader' is not cut out for leadership - because 'complete responsibility' in leadership includes the responsibility for appropriate delegation, which itself includes the ability to remain calm whilst reminding people they were given responsibilities which should be well within their capabilities.
That person's strengths lie in an area where their responsibilities are clearly set out, and limited to specifics. They could, for example, be an exceptional Executive Assistant, a brilliant recruiter, estate agent, or consultant. They can lead themselves, and they can organise others, but they need a stable, predictable operating environment.
Individuals who struggle to see things from their customers' perspective, or who don't think about where they're most likely to find their customers in the first place (if you're selling a river cruise, head to the river - the people there are already interested in it. If you're selling wine tastings, go to the tourist-focused pubs - the people there are already willing to spend money on alcohol) don't have the internal 'gearing' to be good as salespeople. They're not going to succeed on the delivery side - but they might be the greatest design team you've ever had.
Individuals who become too focused on 'what's going to engage individual customers watching an advert', when they're selling to corporate clients, and therefore need to focus on "You have X problem, this is the solution" (with the e-vehicle 'shop', the positioning to corporates should have centred on abandoned carts in the online retail space, while the 'e-bnb' could have positioned more for the emerging enterprise of '35+ clubbing/festivals' - older festival-goers are more likely to jump at the opportunity to have the 'camping experience' in genuine comfort, if a company were to buy a fleet of 'e-bnbs', they could lease them to disability organisations, which would support those organisations' clients attending music events and other festivals, which is something many disabled people are shut out from because of accessibility challenges...) then their business acumen is more direct sales-focused. They would be fantastic leaders in novel D2C entrepreneurship.
Someone who talks confidently of 'having given televised presentations to 100,000,000 people', but flounders when advertising a product in a fast-moving televised space, is not a salesperson; their gift is in motivating and leading others. They would make an excellent CEO, and would be a strong, powerful, readily-identifiable voice for their brand - they can sell what they know inside out; they're not able to 'spin it as they go along' for something they are less familiar with. And that's okay.
It's okay to not excel at every single aspect of the broad landscape we call 'business.' That's why there are diverse sectors, it's why there are people who just want to turn up for a defined period of time, do a clearly-explained job, collect a paycheque, go home, and forget about the company and its business until its time to go in to work again.
I have proven, over and over again, that I am terrible at sales. I probably couldn't sell a fire extinguisher to someone in a burning building, honestly.
I already knew, from my experience of high school bullies, that persuasion wasn't my strong suit - if I could persuade people, I wouldn't have been being bullied in the first place!
What my high school experience in its totality - the work and the bullies - showed me was that my innate business acumen is standing calmly in the face of raging chaos, whether that's change management, crisis management, dysfunctional teams, or curveballs of identity and experience - which is why I feel calm, confident, and certain running The Productive Pessimist Ltd.
It's okay to not excel at every single aspect of the broad landscape we call 'business.' That's why there are diverse sectors, it's why there are people who just want to turn up for a defined period of time, do a clearly-explained job, collect a paycheque, go home, and forget about the company and its business until its time to go in to work again.
I have proven, over and over again, that I am terrible at sales. I probably couldn't sell a fire extinguisher to someone in a burning building, honestly.
I already knew, from my experience of high school bullies, that persuasion wasn't my strong suit - if I could persuade people, I wouldn't have been being bullied in the first place!
What my high school experience in its totality - the work and the bullies - showed me was that my innate business acumen is standing calmly in the face of raging chaos, whether that's change management, crisis management, dysfunctional teams, or curveballs of identity and experience - which is why I feel calm, confident, and certain running The Productive Pessimist Ltd.
My one regret is that I didn't realise at the time I was being bullied the social function that bullying served. Like most people who are bullied, I simply hated the experience, believed it was all my fault, and assumed that, if I could make it through school, I'd never have to deal with bullies again.
Would being human be a nicer experience if we could find a different way to show people what their innate strength is, and thereby signpost them to the adult remit in which they'll be best suited? Almost certainly - but, unfortunately, we're still overwhelmingly being driven by brains which developed in exceptionally hostile climates. Lacking sabre-tooth tigers, abrupt and potentially fatal shifts of climate, hostile invading tribes, and other physical threats-to-life, these brains have ensured we're wired to be able to most readily identify a need for change, or understand key aspects of ourselves, when we're experiencing pain and distress.
Perhaps Elon Musk's Neuralink will handle the problems of prehistoric brain wiring - although very probably not without causing its own, new issues that the next 10-12,000 generations of whatever homo sapiens becomes will have their own neuroses about.
Until then? The best thing we can do is to begin teaching children as early as possible how to embed the strengths bullying reveals in them. Who knows - if the bullies are aware that being bullied is helpful to other people, they might actually stop bullying them in the first place - because why would you want to help someone you dislike prosper?
Would being human be a nicer experience if we could find a different way to show people what their innate strength is, and thereby signpost them to the adult remit in which they'll be best suited? Almost certainly - but, unfortunately, we're still overwhelmingly being driven by brains which developed in exceptionally hostile climates. Lacking sabre-tooth tigers, abrupt and potentially fatal shifts of climate, hostile invading tribes, and other physical threats-to-life, these brains have ensured we're wired to be able to most readily identify a need for change, or understand key aspects of ourselves, when we're experiencing pain and distress.
Perhaps Elon Musk's Neuralink will handle the problems of prehistoric brain wiring - although very probably not without causing its own, new issues that the next 10-12,000 generations of whatever homo sapiens becomes will have their own neuroses about.
Until then? The best thing we can do is to begin teaching children as early as possible how to embed the strengths bullying reveals in them. Who knows - if the bullies are aware that being bullied is helpful to other people, they might actually stop bullying them in the first place - because why would you want to help someone you dislike prosper?
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