Any wimp can survive the Australian Outback, but only the strongest survive the office.
| Survivor 2: Week 1| Week 2| Week 3| Week 4| Week 5| Week 6| Week 7|Week 8|Week 9|Week 10|Week 11|Week 12|Week 13|Week 14 |
Week 8 - Division Director
March 13, 2001
The field of candidates is getting smaller each week. The person you vote off this week won't get promoted to "Division Director" 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 manager? Vote that person off. You can vote for one person on each team if you wish.
Blew that one
Well, last week I correctly predicted that Colby would be targeted by the former Kucha team members. However, I completely missed Ogakor ganging up on Jeff and I was wrong about Ogakor's ability to stay together and vote as a team.
Unexpected events happen all the time in business and you have to be prepared for them. Sometimes they are major events, like Mike getting burned so badly he had to be removed from the contest. Other times they are seemingly minor things, like Keith winning the immunity challenge on last week's show. However they happen, they change the situation and a good manager must know how to spot the change and decide how best to react to it.
Fat's in the fire now
Kucha had been cruising along, winning handily, and getting cocky. Now, suddenly, they are in real danger of disappearing completely. For the first time since they lost Debb in the initial show, Kucha is smaller in number than Ogakor. They are worried that the former Ogakor team members will now vote them off one at a time. They should be worried.
Kucha's predicament
The four remaining members of the former Kucha team no longer have enough votes to save themselves. They need to forge new alliances with someone on the former Ogakor team. The most savvy members of Kucha, in terms of seeing the need and building alliances, were Mike and Jeff. Both of them are now gone. Who in Kucha is smart enough to pick up that ball now? Alicia? Nope. She is a facilitator, a motivator, but she is not a leader. Nick? He led them in the blindfolded training exercise they did in preparation for that immunity challenge, but he's too quiet to lead. He may make an overture to someone on Ogakor, but it would be for himself, not for the team. Rodger? He's just too nice. I wonder how he got this far. Elizabeth? Too quiet and too meek? I don't see it that way. In the crisis of Mike getting burned, it was Elizabeth who seemed to rise up and take charge. I expect her to do so again this week.
Kucha's only chance to survive is to swing someone from Ogakor to their side. That person would have to know that they would be targeted as soon as the rest of Ogakor was gone, so it would have to be someone with enough confidence to figure they could bust the alliance and with enough strength to reasonably hope to win several personal immunity challenges, as Kelly did last year. The only ones that seem to fit are Colby and Jerri. My bet is Colby.
Kucha (Elizabeth) may approach Colby about being the swing vote, but I don't think he'll do it. His position is stronger with Ogakor. One interesting gambit that could crop up is Jerri, with or without Amber in tow, could approach Kucha about joining them. I don't think Kucha will fall for it. After three days, I'm confident that Jerri will have ticked off too many Kucha people for that to work.
Ogakor's opportunity
If the five remaining members of the former Ogakor team can stay together (and that is still a big if in my mind) they will have a one-in-five chance of winning the big prize. They need to stay together this week and vote off another Kucha person. Who they vote off doesn't really matter. My guess is Alicia will be seen as the biggest threat and the biggest pain and she is the one they will target. If Alicia happens to win immunity, look for Nick to be the substitute target.
Keith, Tina, and Colby need to bide their time for one more week. After they vote off one more Kucha person, then they can go after Jerri with impunity. They know that, but so does Jerri. I look for her to stay with Ogakor for this week's vote, but start building her plan to protect herself for next week.
My Prediction
Colby will stay with Ogakor to control his own destiny rather than accept Kucha's invitation to be the swing vote. Jerri will be unsuccessful in her attempt to "bond" with Kucha. Ogakor will stick together and vote off Alicia, or Nick if she is immune.
Keep your eyes open, though, for new friendships and alliances to build as the remaining nine people start to live together as one team. There is a real possibility for Keith and Tina to hook up with Rodger and Elizabeth. And after Alicia or Nick goes away this week, that would give those four no less than half the votes.
Do you agree? Or not? Join us as we talk about it on the Management Forum. Or read about the next week.
PREVIOUS EPISODES
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
