The Apprentice 2012: Duane's bravery led to his firing. If the fitness task in The Apprentice proved one thing it was that, in Lord Sugar's boardroom, bravery costs, cowardice lives to fight another day Strategies either side of the boardroom table often mean that the wrong person is fired. This week's casualty, Duane Bryan, is the perfect example of that. There are two particular strategies that misfired this week. All the candidates must decide whether to thrust their heads (and their egos) above the parapet in the hope that they will excel and be recognised for it, or to hide in the background praying that they don't make any catastrophic mistakes that could bring down the team. In short, it's bravery versus cowardice. Bravery brings candidates into the firing line of the board. As Duane left the competition this week, prematurely in my opinion, I felt that his strategy had not worked in either his or the board's interests. Duane should have stopped trying to be head boy every week and moved back to allow someone else to take the risks. At school, the teacher might look favourably on the person who puts his hand up to volunteer every time, but here it becomes a naive tactic doomed for failure. And we know that Sugar is no primary school teacher. It also meant that the likes of Jenna could get away with grinning inanely and generating a lot of noise with little useful content. Her ploy of ducking the limelight worked well for her and indeed for others. As for the board, they should have known better when disagreeing with the project manager's selection of the final three. Sugar, who often leads the project manager in the same way as a prosecution lawyer might lead a witness, has to take responsibility for his poor navigation. I am staggered that he did not highlight the varying levels of contribution more clearly. If he had, then like Jane last week, who would have escaped had Sugar not highlighted her dismal sales effort, the desperate project manager would have made a different selection. Instead by throwing the blame at the video production team, he as good as put the final nail in Duane's coffin. So the usual strategies did not work effectively for Duane. I'd like to be able to say that "stepping up," a phrase made more popular by the Apprentice vox pops, should have its reward but it doesn't always do that. Sometimes it is best to stay away from the limelight. Sugar has also lost out. His advisory strategy fell flat as a very capable contender left the competition where there were weaker candidates riper for picking. Sugar is not entitled to criticise the project manager for bringing the wrong person in when he had the chance to steer them in the right direction. That's just poor man management, something that dogs the working world and the perfect example of a bad workman blaming his tools. Follow Anita on Twitter @anitashahwriter