The Apprentice

It's Back! Admit it you love watching this reality soap dressed in a designer suit. Does it take longer than a single episode to determine the weak cannon fodder? I think not.

Incredibly even before the start of the programme one of the 15 contestants had already dropped out, the pressure obviously getting to him, or was it the propsect of meeting Sir Alan?

For me there are a number of aspects which make this enjoyable TV, however far removed from the real world of business that it may be. The first are the fantastic one liners which the combatants come up with, lines such as:

• "For me making money is better than sex".
• "You don't need to make friends on the way up when you are not coming back down".
• "I love the sound of my own voice".
• "I think you've got it all wrong" - said to a prospective customer.
• "You will get a great job, plus it's done by women not stinky men".
• "You don't want to lose the first task - not to girls."
• "I can't be responsible for two puppets".
  
• "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity".

The other fascinating element is how quickly egos drive divisions and animosity between people who have only just met. Finally I'm always impressed by how jumped up their titles and qualifications are, the candidate who got fired branded herself as a "Business Strategist", based simply on a degree in law.

At Torchpaper we know that strategy is something which is tempered by experience, disciplined by hard successes and bitter disappointments. It comes from a dedicated and long path to eventual enlightenment - it is not a line on a CV or an entry on a website.

The Apprentice? Roll on week two!