I believe myself to be a very merit based. I hired lots of people of different gender and race. I did find myself struggling to accept older candidates though. The reason being, in my fast paced and demanding world, the learning curve was just too long. I needed people who could pick up concepts quickly and implement immediately. Younger people just learn faster than older people, you can't argue with science. Over the years, I learned a lot and my perceptions changed. Yes, older candidates learned slower, but they had a foundation of experience to pull from for decision-making that younger candidates did not. That was valuable. Ultimately, I found a balanced mix had the best results. I learned a lot about how to teach and train while working with just a varied workforce.