How to Get into the Judgement Room in 8 Hours or Less!
By Thor
The first day on the set was really surreal for a lot of the contestants. I remember waiting outside the COMMplex on day one wondering what as in store for us. I had never met Joel Comm before, and like most of you I had formed opinions about the other cast members based on their audition and acceptance videos.
The only thing I knew for certain is that I was a competitor and I simply wanted to win. Heck, I didn’t really have a complete understanding of what it was I was competing for, but I knew I was going to fight for it all the same.
Off Like a Herd of Turtles…
That day I learned that I do well with my Schrock Innovations team in Nebraska because I picked them for their skill sets. I am used to running my own business, and I tend to get along very well with my employees. We usually all find our niches and we hit our goals with precision and efficiency. The Episode 1 Elimination Challenge taught me a lot about myself and what makes up a successful team.
The Bullseye Group was an unknown quantity made up of people who had met that morning at breakfast. We barely even knew each other when we were paired off into teams, let alone each of our strengths and weaknesses.
A Quick Overview of the Bullseye Group - Day 1
Even though I introduced Carly that morning in the HackerSafe Immunity Challenge, I had no idea that her strength was copy writing. I knew Debbie was doing something with “Gutzy Women,” but the details were a mystery to me. I didn’t expect much out of Charles and I didn’t know what to think of Nico. Christine and I seemed to be cut from similar cloth and we gelled almost immediately.
I was extremely frustrated with myself in the elimination challenge because I didn’t know how to help my teammates find their niches. It seemed like we were all floating in our own little realms and happened to bounce ideas off each other at random from time to time. Nothing was getting accomplished and the clock was ticking.
What was That About flies and Vinegar Again?
So I found myself as a member of an in-cohesive team that was being less than productive in a competition that I wanted to win. I didn’t pick the people, I didn’t pick the task, and I wasn’t sure how we would win the challenge. I was not used to a situation like that, so I decided that I was going to try and give our team a macro direction in hopes the micro direction would trickle down based on each of our skills and abilities.
Also, for those of you who are wondering, in this episode Debbie and I didn’t really have any kind of a knock down drag out disagreement. At one point I was stumped for direction so I sat next to her and asked, “what now coach.” Debbie was able to fill in the blanks for me and I thought the two of us made an awesome leadership team.
And From the Chaos Brilliance Almost Emerges
Finally toward the end of the challenge people’s skill sets started to emerge. Nico and Charles started to draw a storyboard for a commercial, while Carly and Christine started to craft the copy. Debbie made sure we were following the Simpleology path and I started working on a web page to contain the copy. Finally we all had niches, direction, and a clear goal.
Unfortunately there was not enough time to polish our end product and craft counter-arguments to the challenges we knew would be coming from the judges. That fact became clear in the presentation and we paid for it with the loss of two team mates.
I have been in some tough situations and negotiations in my life and I can tell you sincerely there is nothing that can prepare you for that Judgement Room. I knew walking in there that I had laid it on the line by being aggressive with my team during the Execution Challenge. I knew we lost, and I knew I was not happy with my individual performance. When I walked in there I thought there was a chance I would be going home on day 1.
Off to the Wood Shed
Joel’s words about my tongue hit me like a sledgehammer. I tried to take solace in the knowledge that if I would have sat back and been agreeable I would have been chastised for not doing more. Mark explained very diplomatically that I had the right idea, but went about it in the wrong way.
Based on the days events, I learned that I needed to find a new way to achieve the same goals if I wanted to be around for long on the show. I also learned that there are only two ways out of that judgement room (unless you pull a Jason Marshall and snap up that HackerSafe shirt like a bargain shopper at the church bazaar). I definately did not want to see that room again in the near future.
So What was My Plan for Day 2?
At this point of the competition I was most concerned with Jason Marshall. His presentation skills were top notch, he was quick on his feet, and he was a natural leader with personality. I knew he was either going to be a tremendous asset or a terrifying liability to my desire to be Joel’s next JV partner. I was going to have to figure some way to leverage his abilities in my favor.
P.S. One thing of minor importance I noticed was the number of biblical references in the show. The COMMplex was HOT like hell under all of those lights, the losing (i.e. dead) team is sent to the judgement room to be judged by Joel Comm (initials J.C. like Jesus Christ), and two team members who were dead (eliminated) were resurrected (the sandbox). Did you see any others that I missed?
