We Need Vintage People

I’m a big fan of vintage wines, vintage cars, and even old motorcycles. All these things have their own fan base, are eagerly sought out, and are often treasured by collectors. Why don’t we treat vintage people as well as fermented grape juice or an assembly of mechanical parts?

One morning this week an article in the Los Angeles Times was trumpeting the fact that “vintage motorcycles find traction in a soft economy” caught my attention. It went on to prompt an ooh from me when it mentioned a Vincent Black Shadow that sold for over $383,000 a few months ago. Knowledgeable collectors of fine wines will always snap to attention if you even mention that your cellar holds a few bottles of 1982 red Bordeaux. Right down the street from my office I can pick up a bottle of 1982 Chateau Latour for only $1,999.00! Even guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster that were cranked out by Leo Fender in the 1960s are adored by collectors and change hands at many times their original cost. I probably don’t need to remind you of the cachet and value that old Duesenberg automobiles have attained. I’d say it’s a fact that people demonstrate their love of old things and with the ultimate compliment, they empty their wallets for them.

So why don’t we put more value on real, live vintage people as we do on objects of a certain age? I believe that businesses from small to very large can benefit from the knowledge and experience of people who’ve learned many of the lessons first hand. Even in the hallowed halls of youth obsessed businesses such as FaceBook, the realities of the marketplace bring comparatively vintage people to the top of the organization chart. A frequent refrain around Google, MySpace, FaceBook and other explosively growing start ups has been, “We need some adults around here.” In Detroit, which is the current battleground of business survival, the last company standing may be Ford Motor and there, Alan Mulally, the CEO, is 63 years of age.

There is money and intelligence in every age category from 18 to dead, but where you find the greatest combination of both is toward the gray haired end of the spectrum. When hundreds of ambitious aspirants line up to become “The Apprentice,” they are looking to learn from Donald Trump in America or Sir Alan Sugar in Great Britain. Yes, we know that if Trump didn’t treat his hair to a weekly chemical bath he too would probably be gray haired!

This past week I visited the Small Business Administration office in Glendale, California and was reminded about the great counseling and mentoring organization called SCORE, which was originally formed by retired executives. Their wise and experienced counsel has probably helped spawn many a business plan and helped save more than a few businesses.

I sense a rather profound shift that is lurking around the business corner based on the economic downturn that is crippling individual’s retirement plans and remaking the pension plans of big industry and even government. The trend I see is that more people are remaining active in their businesses or in the workforce for a greater number of years. I’ve talked with several skilled executives recently who took early retirement packages in their 50s and who are now looking to start or buy a business. Some of these “vintage” folks have begun selling their experience as consultants. Keeping their brains active, staying healthy, and having some money coming in are all very worthy goals.

If you have to face the unknown or a jungle full of business problems, do you want the recent MBA graduate or would you prefer someone who has learned guerilla warfare and hand to hand combat on the business battlefield? In the19th and 20th centuries, the relationship between the young trainee and the experienced hand was an honored one, but of course that was during a heavily manufacturing era when most people used their hands to craft things or guide the machines that made them. The service economy was a small part of overall business activity and the creation of purely intellectual property was even smaller.

When I was a child and wasn’t sure what many people actually did for a living, we called them, “the old folks.” After being in business for myself for over 20 years, and seeking their advice on many subjects, I’ve seen the value of “vintage people.”

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