New lamps for old: is innovation only for the young?
According to a number of reports, you apparently have to be young to be innovative. You have to know less, so it seems, in a quest to find solutions to know more.
That explains a lot. But not enough.
The bloom of youth
In the sciences, there’s evidence to support the assertion. John Nash’s insights on non-cooperative games occurred in his 20s. Thomas Edison was 30 when he introduced the phonograph… in concept, at least, and Nikola Tesla was the same
age when he introduced A.C. (alternating current, not air conditioning). Actress Hedy
Lamarr was a mere 28 when she perfected the concept of frequency hopping during World War II and stymied the Nazis’ attempts to interfere with the Allies’ radio-controlled torpedoes.
However…. Though Einstein was only 26 when he published his special theory of relativity, he was nearly 40 when he published his general theory, as were most of the physicists who developed the atom bomb. Henry Ford was also in his 40s when he introduced the assembly line and the use of standardized parts. Paul Winchell was over 50 when he created an artificial heart, which was quite a departure from his fame as a ventriloquist.
The wisdom of experience
In the arts, though, the pattern seems different. Painters and writers, musicians and sculptors may burst on the scene early on, but their work almost always gets better with age. Their age, not the age of their creations. Beethoven’s Ninth, anyone? Picasso’s Don Quixote? King Lear?
Yet, for those of us who are no longer young enough to know everything, the startup world seems unforgivingly biased toward the innovation assumption. That assumption extends to the notion that the young have a lock on things like social media, the use of mobile devices, and disruption (one of the most misused terms in the lexicon).
There are, of course, exceptions. When Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, realized their venture was a viable business, they hired 46-year-old Eric Schmidt to run the company. And, for the most part, the money behind the latest startups comes from investors who will never see 50 again.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
It’s true, to a certain degree, that contemporary methods of marketing rely on a different skill set. Yet the new practitioners lack the perspective that could make their efforts far more effective than posts on social media, word-of-mouth, and that thing known as “content.”
Yes, everyone is suddenly a storyteller (as if earlier promoters of products were not), but the stories are often so far off the
mark that they might as well be written in Klingon. In his 50s, Bill Bernbach turned out ad campaigns that could tell a product’s story in three words (“We try harder” for Avis and “It’s so simple” for Polaroid cameras)
By contrast, I’ve read content marketing “stories” about products that are only about the products… instead of about how those products make their users’ lives easier, simpler, more productive, or more fiscally fit. I’ve read very, very interesting tales about people who love adventure but, with no reference to anything connected to the company that published it, I have no idea why I should care.
Where to look… if at all
The work I consider my best was produced long after seeing 40 in my rearview mirror. And I’ve done email and social media and content campaigns in the past several years that put millions of dollars in the revenue pipeline. All of it, however, was for clients whom I’ve worked with for years.
I look at it this way. A year ago, I needed surgery, and I had to have a physical beforehand. It’s the method that insurers and doctors rely on to minimize risk. If you’re not in good shape, which might result in complications, you’ll probably have to survive on non-surgical remedies.
My doctor told me this: “If I’d never seen you, had no idea how old you are, and only had your test results to go by, I’d say you’re around 23… and an elite athlete.” That’s extremely reassuring, even for someone who weighs fifteen pounds less than he did when he graduated high school.
So my strategy is clear.
All my future clients have got to be blind.
