Have you heard about The ZEO Personal Sleep Coach? Regardless of your answer, you're probably wondering what it has to do with recruiting.
First, some words about The ZEO: It is a bedside contraption that monitors and charts sleep states (such
as REM sleep) for a better understanding of when and for how long one experiences certain sleep states. In addition, this company has developed and marketed a personal sleep coaching service which allows users to learn to improve these analyzed sleep patterns.
This product is capturing national attention, having been featured on NBC's Today Show and in The Wall Street Journal. The product is a huge hit.
Now, let's move on to the information about this product that pertains to your business: In 2004, a few students at Brown University were sitting around talking about the natural interest that most people have around the topic of getting a good night's sleep. Sleep medications were on the rise as the fastest growing prescription medication, and sleep study clinics were developed in nearly every major city.
This group of young people (college age!) had the time, creativity and motivation to consider the possibility of developing a way for people to change their sleep habits for the better, driven and supported by the latest technology.
Have you ever noticed that young people are usually the ones who come up with ways of addressing old problems with new technology? There is something contained in younger hearts and minds- some strange, elusive recipe of creativity, high tolerance for risk, little need for relaxation, abundant energy and competitiveness... that gives young people an edge in developing the next wave of innovative development in almost any field.
When is the last time that you've heard new strains of music genres begun by anyone over 40? A study of history tells us that it rarely happens.
For example, I remember hearing Bob Dylan (one of the most important innovators of music, bringing the lyrical genius and deep meaning of folk together with the hard hitting melodies of rock and roll), interviewed by 60 Minutes when he was over 60 years old. In this interview he was asked how he wrote some of his earlier work that everyone predicted would become so timeless. His answer is at the heart of my point:
"I have no idea how I wrote those great songs, but I can't do it anymore.. I've tried and I just can't do it."
If one of your goals is for your company to be recognized as an innovator in your industry, then you have to attract those who will creatively experiment their way into discovering new ways to sell, position, market, communicate and integrate new technologies for your services.
There is no question that in any industry, including real estate, those companies who recruit, listen to, and unleash the creativity of young people, will be the ones leading the way to better methods of conducting business in the 21st century.
Allow me to remind you of the ages of some of the greatest innovators of the 20th century:
- Ransom E. Olds (Age 36): Created the assembly line in 1901
- Willis Haviland Carrier (Age 25): Inventor of the air conditioner in 1902
- Marie Curie (Age 35): Pioneered the study of radioactivity in 1903
- Albert Einstein (Age 26): Invented The Theory of Relativity
- Orville and Wilbur Wright (Age at first flight 32): Inventors of the airplane
- Gideon Sundback (Age 33): Invented the zipper
- John Hammond (Age 23): Invented radio remote control
- Philo Farnsworth (Age 21!): Inventor of Television in 1927
- Walter Diemerm (Age 24): Inventor of bubble gum in 1928
- Chester Carlson (Age 32): Inventor of Xerography in 1938
- Jack Kilby (Age 35): Inventor of Integrated Circuits in 1958
- Nolan Bushnell (Age 29): Inventor of the Pong Video Game in 1972
- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Ages 21 and 27): Inventors of the Personal Computer in 1976
- Bill Gates (Age 22): Founded Microsoft and struck a deal with IBM
- Tim Berners-Lee (Age at concept 25): Inventor of the World Wide Web (NO, not Al Gore)
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Ages 24 and 25): Google founder
So next time that a 21 year old expresses an interest in giving Real Estate a try...
Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.
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