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Last week's The Apprentice was all about a failed bromance - this week it was the sisterhood at war with itself.

The task was rubbish. No, really - as the BBC continuity announcer kept reminding us, it was all about turning garbage into gold - or more likely given the track records of teams Logic and Venture, garbage into more garbage. Surprisingly, Bossyboots Edna was the one to be fired - most of us, I suspect, didn't see that one coming, given how badly Logic team leader Zoe performed, as an uninspiring strategist and non-inspirer of people.

Once again the question was - would the teams listen carefully to what they were told at the beginning, about the nature of the task? It was about making a turn on the disposal of junk, the trick being to be able to boost returns by selling on the good stuff, and ensure you didn't have to pay out too much in landfill charges to get rid of the real rubbish. Sadly for Logic though, those listening skills weren't in evidence.

Flat-voiced Zoe pushed herself forward as team leader. She had assumed the idea was to charge for the provision of a service - ie rubbish removal. When team-mate Susan suggested that she'd thought it was about offering the best price for the privilege of taking it away if the stuff was worth it, for example for a job-lot of old office furniture, she was (sorry) rubbished. As in previous weeks Susan was right, but her lack of confidence meant she communicated these views in a style that was 'too little, too late'. So Logic lost a couple of key contracts when rivals Venture offered to do the job for nothing, knowing they could get good money for some of the items to be taken.

Once again team Logic had failed to sit down, and agree on a strategy; in the Boardroom later, Zoe claimed she'd had a strategy - but everyone else claimed this was the first they had heard of it. Lesson: a strategy that exists only inside your own head is unlikely to pay dividends. The leader should establish it clearly then ensure he or she has buy-in from the rest of the team. The flaws might then have been exposed much earlier, leaving time for remedial action - as it was, Zoe's team allowed their rivals to build up a big lead, and were lucky not to have lost by a lot more than the final wafer-thin £6 difference between the two sides. At the end of day one, realising her mistake, Zoe just sat down and wept. Understandable, but in terms of a leadership style, it was about as demotivating as you could get.

Highlights from the other team last night included scary Irish Jim scouring the south London suburbs in his truck for spare junk, using his charm-school training. 'Number 73', he bellowed through a loud megaphone, 'You've got a skip outside!' As in 'Come out, we know you're in there!' We could imagine the inhabitants cowering inside, rather than daring to come out and negotiate.

How did Zoe escape in the end? Her poor communication and motivational skills were manifest. But Lord S had his eye on Edna, whose approach seemed to be to see which way things were going, synthesise the points everyone else was making, then try and claim credit for any of the good ideas that emerged - we've all met people like that in the workplace. Lord Sugar didn't like this, but what really sealed it was her performance in the Boardroom, when Edna tried to defend herself by listing the number of degrees she had - including, if I heard correctly, an 'MBA in Entrepreneurial Innovation'. (As someone put it - Three Degrees? She should've gone to Motown). As a strategy this beggared belief, knowing the boss's aversion to anyone with fancy qualifications. Edna later admitted that this being her first time in the boardroom, she hadn't been used to the pressure, so was unable to communicate a coherent reason why she would stay. This allowed Zoe to live to fight another day, but will she make it to the final? Don't hold your breath.

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