Old People Are More Innovative - thinking about age diversity in the context of invention
Posted on Sun, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:43 PM
by Robert J. Sayre
The above is the title for one of 25 "unexpected truths" published in this week's edition of Newsweek. Newsweek posits:
Earlier generations of scientists didn't have to wade through quite as much preexisting work before making an original contribution. Now innovators are establishing themselves much later in life.
A provocative theory. Is it true?
Run-of-the-mill inventors are also older: the average age for registering first major patents has jumped seven months per decade.
Id. (source not provided, though I will accept it here as true for the sake of argument).
While mainstream media is drawn to young internet innovators like Sergei and Larry at Google, within an industry where many innovators begin to build their empires while still in or just out of college (I certainly have felt "old" by comparison when I have visited Google Cambridge), this trend is not particularly surprising to me in the context of other advanced technologies.
Truly, in many fields we are standing on the shoulders of a taller and taller stack of giants; and you simply cannot climb that stack overnight.
Much of my work as a patent attorney is for local universities, where I often work with teams in the form of some combination of professors, post-docs, graduate students and undergraduates. More and more of this work is interdisciplinary and builds on deep understandings of multiple technologies. That depth and breadth of understanding is often the key held by a professor or group of professors, who may have decades of scholarship and experience.
The inspiration for this post, however, is not to argue whether older people or younger people are more inventive. Rather, the realization that inspires me to write is what I have observed from my work--a great model for innovation is found in the creation of cross-generational teams. In the university context, you often have one or more professors and young students from the profesors' labs. The professor may be more likely to provide the broader vision and draw concepts from across a range of other disciplines. The students meanwhile may be more likely to provide a fresh perspective and pursue new tangents. Put them together, and you get concepts that neither would have generated alone.
I believe industry can likewise benefit by more closely replicating this model. Make a more concerted effort to put your young engineers in close collaboration and consult with your veteran engineers. We regularly hear about the benefits of diversity based on gender, race, etc. However, I do not often hear much advocacy for promoting age diversity.
Each generation is shaped by different experiences, influences and ideas. And invention is often the byproduct of colliding different ways of thinking. The conclusion I find compelling is that we need to better mix our more-senior people with the younger people (not just at our universities) and watch innovation flourish.