Youth Movement

Where Do You Want to Go Tomorrow?

Furdyk may joke about it, but his and Corriero's ability to communicate was, in fact, partly what attracted Microsoft's attention. The two youths first connected in the summer of 1997, through a Toronto-based organization called the NRG Group (then known as KidsNRG). Part Internet incubator, part venture-capital and advisory company, the NRG Group offered students the chance to work on real projects (such as creating Web sites) with real companies (such as Xerox). Through their work there, Furdyk and Corriero met Don Tapscott, author of Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation (McGraw-Hill, 1998). Tapscott, who consults for Microsoft, knew that while the company was pursuing traditional research methods to gather information about so-called Net Genners, it was also interested in bringing in some living, breathing representatives. He recommended Furdyk and Corriero to Tammy Morrison.

Morrison flew to Toronto to meet Furdyk and Corriero, and the three of them had dinner at a swanky CN Tower restaurant. "They were so easy to connect with," says Morrison, who is 30 but, perhaps due to her current proximity to Furdyk and Corriero, often slips into teenspeak. "It was totally fun. I learned about them, and they wanted to know about me. The thing that was clear was that they're very smart, they're very passionate and very committed, and they bring a high level of fun to everything that they do."

Furdyk and Corriero were similarly impressed by Morrison. "She got it," says Furdyk. "We knew that we'd be working with someone who understood us and who knew what our mission was."

Microsoft's decision to hire Furdyk and Corriero is part of a larger company effort to glean information about what the next generation of workers will be like, what products and services they'll want -- and how Microsoft can be the first to provide them. The reason for hiring Furdyk and Corriero was twofold: First, on the human-resources front, as members of the next generation of employees, Furdyk and Corriero could offer valuable insights about what tomorrow's knowledge workers will be looking for in an employer. Second, in terms of product innovation, they could communicate easily with other Net Genners to gather data and combine that information with their own thoughts and opinions. That means that Furdyk and Corriero divide their time between having their brains picked by various Microsoft employees, including top-level executives such as group vice president Jim Allchin, and doing their own research.

That research has mainly taken the shape of focus groups across the country. When they're not wooing participants with pizza, Laser Tag, and free Microsoft products, Furdyk and Corriero ask them probing questions: What motivates them? What technologies do they like? How do they prefer to communicate?

"We think that we're going to accomplish more than we set out to do," Corriero says. "At the rate we're going, we'll exceed expectations. And I don't think that six months will define the length of our relationship with Microsoft."

For many teenagers, the idea of giving advice to one of the most important companies in the world might be intimidating -- but not for Corriero. "Because of why we were hired, I'm not afraid to be myself," she says. "That's why they picked us. If there's something about ourselves that we're hiding, then we're not providing value."

Those who work with Furdyk and Corriero downplay their age, though Morrison admits, "The way that I work with Michael and Jennifer is different from the way that I would work with someone who has years of experience. The differences can be as basic as not having early-morning meetings with them. They have a very flexible work schedule, which is fine with me. And the work that we do is very interactive and fluid. We're in and out of each other's offices, brainstorming, talking. We have fewer scheduled meetings."

Betsy Johnson, 35, a general manager at Microsoft in the knowledge- worker solutions group who meets with Furdyk and Corriero two or three times a week, has noticed the same phenomenon. "I never meet with them in my office, and I don't know why that is," says Johnson. "I tend to meet with them in the cafeteria or some other open space, and we have these high-energy conversations. I find it very invigorating to talk with them."

Johnson has been impressed by Furdyk and Corriero's egalitarian approach. "I think that they take people for the individuals they are, rather than looking at a person's larger status in the organization," she says. "They're engaging with our most senior vice presidents. New MBAs might come out of school and say, 'Oh, that guy's a senior vice president!' But Michael and Jennifer say, 'Hey, great, you're a smart person. I have an opinion, and you have an opinion, so let's get together and talk.' "