A recent conversation on The Flywheel Effect podcast sparked some uncomfortable truths about talent, education, and why the best employees might be hiding in plain sight.
Here’s a question that might make you squirm: What if the education system that we’ve all been taught to respect is actually working against us when it comes to finding great employees?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as I watch custom integration business owners struggle to find people who can think on their feet, solve problems creatively, and adapt to the constant changes our industry throws at us. We keep looking for people with the “right” credentials, the proper certifications, the clean resumes — and then wonder why they can’t think outside the box when a project throws them a curveball.
From kindergarten through college, we teach kids to sit in rows, follow instructions, memorize information, and regurgitate it on command. We reward conformity and punish deviation. We create people who are really good at doing what they’re told, and then we act surprised when these same people can’t think independently in our businesses.
The system isn’t broken — it’s working exactly as designed. For over a century, we needed masses of people who could follow procedures, work in assembly lines, and take direction without question. The industrial age demanded worker bees, and that’s exactly what we got. But we’re not in the industrial age anymore.
The Blue Hair Revelation
I keep thinking about those moments when you meet someone who just thinks differently. Maybe they didn’t follow the traditional path. Maybe they questioned authority a little too much in school. Maybe they have blue hair — literally or metaphorically — and make you a little uncomfortable at first.
These are often the people who end up being the best employees to unlock a growth cap in your business because they’ve already proven they can think for themselves. They’ve demonstrated that they won’t just accept “because that’s how we’ve always done it” as an answer. They’ve shown they can adapt, improvise, and find creative solutions when the standard playbook doesn’t work.
Also by Matt Bernath: Adapting to Change
The problem is, most of us don’t recognize this quality when we see it. We’re too busy looking for people who fit our preconceived notions of what a “good employee” looks like.
The Curiosity Test
I’ve started asking myself a different question when I’m evaluating talent: Are they curious? Not “Are they smart?” because intelligence is hard to measure and comes in many forms. Not “Do they have experience?” because experience in one context doesn’t always translate to another. But curiosity? That’s the secret ingredient.
Curious people ask “Why?” when something doesn’t make sense. They experiment with different approaches when the first one doesn’t work. They pay attention to patterns and notice when something is off. They’re not content to just follow the script — they want to understand the reasoning behind it.
You can teach technical skills to curious people. You can’t teach curiosity to technically skilled people.
We’ve created a generation that’s afraid to fail. The irony is that in any entrepreneurial environment, the ability to take calculated risks and learn from failures is absolutely essential. The client who wants something that’s never been done before. The project that doesn’t go according to plan. The technology that behaves in unexpected ways… These situations don’t have instruction manuals. They require people who are comfortable with uncertainty, who can improvise, and who see obstacles as puzzles to solve rather than reasons to give up.
Industry Experience: Overrated
Some of the most successful business leaders I know have jumped between completely different industries. Each time, they brought fresh perspectives and found opportunities that industry insiders missed because they weren’t constrained by how things are supposed to be done.
I see this same pattern in our industry. The integrator who came from retail brings customer service innovations. The former teacher understands how to break down complex concepts for clients. The ex-mechanic approaches troubleshooting in ways that pure AV people never would. Yet somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that industry experience is the most important qualification. We’d rather hire someone with five years of mediocre AV experience than someone brilliant from a different field.
What if we flipped this assumption? What if we started looking for intelligence, creativity, and drive first, and treated industry knowledge as something that could be learned?
When you’re building a team, you want people who make everyone around them smarter; people who ask the questions that others are afraid to ask and who push back when something doesn’t make sense. These people don’t always have the best GPAs. They might have unconventional backgrounds or gaps in their resumes that make HR nervous, but they have something more valuable: the ability to think. And thinking is exactly what our businesses need.
Also by Matt Bernath: The Psychology of Pricing
We’re dealing with technology that changes monthly and client expectations that constantly evolve. You can’t solve these problems by following the manual. If you’re going to break through, you need people who can write new manuals.
There’s another quality I’ve learned to watch for: hunger. That drive to prove themselves, to learn, to contribute something meaningful. Sometimes this hunger comes from people who have been overlooked by traditional systems, who weren’t the teacher’s pet or the straight-A student, and who had to work harder to get noticed. These people often bring an intensity and dedication that you simply can’t find in someone who has always had doors opened for them.
Building Your Non-Conformist Team
So, how do you find and hire these people? Start by throwing out your traditional hiring playbook. Instead of requiring specific degrees or certifications, focus on problem-solving ability. Give candidates real scenarios and see how they think through them. Pay attention to the questions they ask, not just the answers they give.
Look for people who have taught themselves skills outside of formal education: The person who learned programming on YouTube. Who started a side business in college. Who figured out how to fix their own car because they couldn’t afford a mechanic. These experiences tell you more about someone’s potential than any credential ever could. Ask about times they’ve had to adapt to unexpected situations. How they’ve handled failure. What they do when they don’t know the answer to something.
The best candidates won’t have perfect stories. They’ll have messy, human stories about learning and growing and figuring things out as they went along.
If you want to build a team of independent thinkers, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable sometimes. These people will challenge your ideas. They’ll suggest different approaches. They’ll ask why you do things the way you do them. This can feel threatening, especially if you’re used to being the person with all the answers. But this discomfort is a sign that you’re on the right track.
The alternative is a team of people who nod along with everything you say and wait for you to tell them what to do next. That might feel safer in the short term, but it’s a recipe for stagnation. The wizard with a thousand helpers is not a life you want.
For more insights on building teams and growing your business, check out The Flywheel Effect podcast, where we explore the real challenges facing custom integrators and the strategies that actually work.
