I watched an episode of Celebrity Apprentice last night. If you look beyond the Hollywood hype, the two teams demonstrated some very important concepts that can be applied to any project. The teams were given one day to meet with their client, Kodak and design a mobile van highlighting their newest ink jet printer.  The van would be a prototype that could be taken to different cities to attract buyers.The two project managers were Gene Simmons and Tito Ortiz.

The Simmons team produced a  beautiful van with  professionally airbrushed signage and a great tag line: It's a Kodak World, Welcome. The Ortiz team van looked like a warehouse with exposed wires and banners that were taped to the sides of the van, some actually falling. Yet, Kodak picked Ortiz's team as the winners. What happened?

Simmons as the project manager never met with the client. He came up with his own view of what they needed. The two team members that he did send to the client meeting spent more time talking than listening. Consequently, while their presentation was flawless, it totally missed the objectives the client was trying to achieve. The Simmons team fell into the classic trap of thinking that they knew better than the client.

The more compelling example for me was the Ortiz team. During the client meeting, they listened and took notes on what the client viewed as the biggest benefit of their product. They designed a sales experience which highlighted that biggest benefit. During their final work session, coffee was spilled on the laptop which contained all of their graphics. This is where an interesting team dynamic played out.  Everyone was disappointed. Several people thought they had no chance of winning. A new team leader emerged who rallied the group and energized them to make the best of the situation. His enthusiasm and confidence affected the rest of the team. They explained the setback to the client and proceeded to sell the concept they had designed. It focused on the affordability and value of the ink and used a great visual of Kodak knocking out the competition and knocking the socks off their customers with delight.  Kodak loved it and chose them as the winners.

 As leaders, whether we are the official project manager or not, after a setback, we have an opportunity to help the team focus on the big picture and what needs to be done to meet the project objectives.