Addictive
I admit it. I watched every episode of the thirteen-week series. I watched the first episode because the show had gotten so much publicity. I had not intended to watch the other episodes, as I watch very little television, but I got hooked. I found watching the inter-personal dynamics on the show was fascinating.

In unscripted television shows, as in real life, the winner is not always the person who is "best". Life on the island wasn't fair, but neither is life in the real world. We have all seen people get promoted over others who worked harder, were smarter, were nicer, etc. That happened on Pulau Tiga Island as well.

Did the "best" person win? No. Was I surprised by the winner? No. Did the person who played the game the best win? Yes. They always do.

What Happen?
Let's skip over the early episodes. Let's ignore the cabal that was trying to get rid of Rudy from the first week. Let's forget that on the very first show Susan told Richard "I'm a redneck. I'm not corporate America. And corporate America isn't going to win out here in the jungle."

The Pagong Tribe, at B.B.'s insistence, built a living structure and then settled in to enjoy their South Pacific adventure. They set about figuring out how to survive for six weeks against the jungle. This group of mostly self-proclaimed Gen-Xers always seemed to be having more fun than their opponents were.

The Tagi Tribe, on the other hand, became political almost immediately. Richard, the eventual winner, began plotting on the very first episode. He later said he had planned out his winning strategy even before arriving at the island. He expressed himself "amazed at how few other were planning."

These early episodes were fun to watch, but each week saw another castaway fall victim to an alliance, or the lack of one. Finally, the competition was down to the last four survivors, all members of the first alliance. That's when the real fun began.

It's the same in the office. When you were first hired as a trainee or on the factory floor there was no competition. There were enough resources (jobs) so everyone worked happily together. But then you found yourself competing for lead, supervisor, manager, general manager, vice president, and senior VP. With each step the competition became more intense, the politics more conniving, until there were just the four of you left competing for the job of President.

The Final Four
Those who chose not to compete had dropped out. Those who couldn't keep up had been cast off. The competition for the final prize was down to the four members of the only real alliance. Having eliminated everyone else they turned on each other.

Kelly felt in most jeopardy of being voted off so she tried harder to win each immunity challenge. She did win and she made the final pair. Along the way she cast two deciding votes. In the round of four, Kelly switched her vote after the tie. That got rid of Susan. In the final round, Kelly was the only one to vote. She chose to get rid of Rudy and go up against Richard in the "trial" portion.

In my opinion, none of the final four except Kelly would have made it that far without the benefit of their membership in the alliance. Rudy was direct, abrasive, and almost as clueless as Sean was. Richard was the person we all loved to hate. Susan was rude, opinionated, and generally unpleasant.

Kelly was the only one of the sixteen competitors who never had a single expulsion vote cast against her.

The Last Pair
The final pair came down to Richard, the ultimate game-player and Kelly the strong-willed, nice person. As I watched the "trial" unfolding I marveled at the way Richard continued to play the game while Kelly thought she was just supposed to answer the questions.

An example of that was when they were asked what other pair of competitors they thought could have been in the final pair instead of themselves. Kelly listed Gretchen and Sonja and cited them as examples of the kind of strong, caring women who she felt deserved to win. Neither woman was in the "jury". Richard, on the other hand, selected Rudy, his protégé and then thought about the second person. He reviewed the jury and selected Greg, the one 'uncommitted' voter. He gave Greg a verbal pat on the back in the hope of swaying his vote.

Casting Their Votes
Finally the speeches were over. The opening arguments had been made. The questions had been asked by the jury. Susan had had her opportunity to show 40 million viewers just how petty a person she can be. Richard and Kelly had made their final speeches. It was time to vote.

Six of the seven "jurors" voted their conscience. Gervase, Jenna, and Colleen voted FOR KELLY. Susan and Sean voted AGAINST KELLY. Rudy cast the only vote FOR RICHARD. The swing vote would be Greg. Would he vote for the nice person? Would he be swayed by Richard's last minute stroking of his ego in the question phase? To whom would Greg award the prize?

Greg didn't vote his conscience. He copped out as much as Sean did with his silly alphabetical voting system earlier in the show. Greg basically flipped a coin. He asked Kelly and Richard to pick a number and he awarded his vote, and ultimately the $1 Million prize, to the person who guessed closer to the number he had in mind.

After 39 days on the island, competing against the jungle and the office politics, the choice came down to the schemer versus the hard worker. Do nice guys like Kelly always finish last as the saying goes? Do you have to be a sneaky, backstabbing, game-player like Richard to win?

In the end it came down to a coin toss. Thirteen weeks of following the travails of the castaways; of trying to figure out who had to do what to survive; of countless water cooler discussions of the pros and cons of the alliance strategy were all thrown away. The individual who ultimately had to make the decision (Greg) chickened out and didn't decide. He let the decision make itself. And millions of viewers walked away feeling let down.

But Not In My Office
Those kinds of things can't happen in your office, can they? You have never seen a superior refuse to make a decision on the merits of the case you presented and toss a coin instead, have you?

Of course you have. All the survival "strategies" employed by the sixteen people on that island are used by people in your office. Every office has a Richard who manipulates everyone and everything to get what he wants. There is always a Sean who is attractive, yet clueless who always seems to rise higher than talent would take him. There is always a Sonja who just can't cut it to begin with.

A Tough Choice
Did the right person win? Would you have done the things Richard did to win? Should Kelly have picked Rudy to go up against in the final pairing? Who in your office is as petty as Sue is? We are discussing those issues on the Management Forum. Come join the discussion.

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John Reh
Management Guide