I hear that advice often: hire young people, they are more open, and more creative.  And that's true, kind of.  What's also true is that young people starting their careers want to fit and integrate into their tribe and step up in the ranks.  And that often leads to doing more of the same, not breaking the mold.

Young, inexperienced people will sometime come up with solutions that they didn't know were "impossible to do." By the same token, they will often copy what other people in their domain are doing, including really bad practices, because they don't know that they're really bad practices.

This makes it critical to provide them with good mentoring, to encourage them to remain open and creative and to steer away from becoming "experts" in their circle and drinking the kool aid).

Just watch how a young employee or intern tries to learn and internalize the language, the buzz words of his/her tribe.  Speaking "right" leads to acceptance into the inner circle of the tribe and that's of utmost importance to people. The problem is that this very language traps people, young and old, into the tribe's paradigm and limits or altogether kills creativity outside the boundaries.

So, yes, hire young† and middle-aged and old.  And be ready to help them all remain "young" and creative for keeps.

† It is illegal and less-than-smart to discriminate by age, so don't do it. Always hire the best.