My estimation of (Lord) Alan Sugar went up hugely last night when he admitted he'd made a mistake keeping Stuart Baggs The Brand in the competition last week. Not sure that 'you're full of ****' is good feedback but I was glad that SBTB had been rumbled at last.
The discussion in our office this morning was how on earth Lord AS hadn't previously noticed Stuart's tendency to embellish the truth, lie and trample on his colleagues!
On reflection I would say it was a combination of:
- Halo effect: Stuart seemed to be doing well and it was easy to ignore his glaring faults
- Liking someone who's just like you: veteran Apprentice watchers will know that Sir Al loves people
who remind him of his younger self, and for a while SBTB was that person - pushy, verbal and
ruthless.
Of course, what convinced Lord Sugar in the end was feedback from his colleagues, and his willingness to listen to that feedback,even though it went against his previous decisions. Good on you Lord S - it really does go to show that even really smart people need feedback!