Any wimp can survive the Australian Outback, but only the strongest survive the office.
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Week 10 - Vice President (VP)
April 1, 2001
The field of candidates is getting smaller each week. The person you vote off this week won't get promoted to "Vice President" like everyone else. Just like the TV show, you decide who to promote by voting one person out of the company each week.
Play along each week as we look at what it takes to survive the politics and competition in the workplace. Remember, we started at trainee and we'll end up at CEO. Who is not qualified to be a VP? Vote that person off.
Thanks, Nick.
Nick won immunity and saved himself. He also saved my prediction from last week. I had predicted "unless she wins immunity, Jerri will be voted off, probably by a 6-2 margin." That's just happened. However, had Nick not won immunity, Ogakor would have held together again and booted him off instead of Jerri. The prospect of voting Nick off didn't seem to bother the members of the former Ogakor tribe. However, when he gained immunity and the choice became voting off Jerri or Elizabeth, that was a tough enough decision to make them re-think their strategy.
It was obvious that the former Kucha members were going to vote against Jerri again. Since she had so many votes against her from the previous week, all that was needed was one Ogakor member to vote against Jerri and she would have lost the tie-breaker. Keith, not surprisingly, became that key vote. He argued with Colby over that decision in the tent scene. What we don't know is whether he eventually convinced Colby, or Colby "did the math" and decided to make it a landslide instead of a tie-breaker.
Earlier I pointed out the potential for new friendships to be made and new alliances to be forged. My suggestion was Keith and Tina bonding with Elizabeth and Rodger. That started to happen. Elizabeth and Tina connected pretty quickly. Rodger and Elizabeth still seem bonded together. However, Keith's bond with Tina turns out to not be as strong as Tina's bond to Colby. That is why this foursome I predicted would form, didn't form. Without it Jerri would have been safe again, had Nick not won immunity.
Amber the Swinger
With Jerri gone, they are down to seven contestants in the game. The three former Kucha members form one block. Colby, Tina and Keith from Ogakor form another block. Amber, also a former Ogakor member, has become the swing vote for this week.
Amber knows that if she continues to vote with her Ogakor teammates, she will make it to the final four. She probably knows that when the four of them turn on each other that she will be the first one out. She thought she had a connection to Colby through Jerri, but she has seen that proven false as Colby joined the others in voting Jerri off.
I don't think Amber is aware enough to make a move toward Kucha, but I think they might come after her. I can easily see Elizabeth, Kucha's de facto leader, approaching Amber and attempting to lure her to the Kucha side by playing up the way Ogakor turned on Jerri.
The other card Kucha could play, to lure a swing vote from Ogakor to their side, is Colby's strength. Look for Elizabeth to tell Amber that Colby is too strong and that she, Amber, has a better chance of winning with him out of the way. Elizabeth also could send the same message to Keith through Rodger.
Elizabeth might approach Tina with the Colby issue. Elizabeth has reached out to Tina before. I am afraid that if she does approach her, Tina will forewarn Colby and give him enough time to plan a counter strategy.
Will Elizabeth's arguments about Ogakor's treatment of Jerri or her warning about the threat Colby poses be enough to overcome the inertia Amber feels? Amber has voted with Ogakor since Day 1. It will take something pretty big to make her switch. Regardless of which team she votes with this week, she knows that she, and they, will make it to the final four. Is Amber sharp enough to figure the angles and determine where she has the best chance of making it to #3 or even to the final pair? Or will she yield to inertia and continue to vote with Ogakor?
Strategy vs. Time
I don't think the players want to spend a lot of time thinking about the Tribal Council meetings and voting someone off. My guess is they discuss it in generalities , but don't get specific until after the immunity challenge is determined. Sometimes, like after the pole-standing competition, they don't have a lot of time to discuss it among themselves. If that lack of time comes into play this week it could effect the outcome.
Remember, we are in the phase of this contest where perceived strength is a liability. Colby is obviously the strongest person out there. I doubt any of the others would want to go against him in the final pair. That makes him the obvious target this week. If Amber or Keith switches to Kucha's block, Colby will be voted off (unless he wins immunity).
My Prediction
Remember the final round of the immunity challenge last week? Colby and Nick on the wobbly platforms playing tug-of-war? That's a great analogy for this week. Whichever of them does NOT win immunity is gone - Colby because he is too strong for the others' peace of mind or Nick because he is expendable.
Do you agree? Or not? Join us as we talk about it on the Management Forum.
PREVIOUS EPISODES
Week 9 - Assistant Vice President
Week 8 - Division Director
Week 7 - General Manager
Week 6 - Manager #2
Week 5 - Manager
Week 4 - Supervisor #2
Week 3 - Supervisor
Week 2 - Trainee #2
Week 1 - Trainee
Want to talk about it? Visit our Management Forum.
John Reh
About.com Guide to Management
http://management.about.com
management.guide@about.com
