How to Disrupt the Santa Claus for Hire Industry

An alert editor alerted me to the fact that my previous Blogs on innovative ways to disrupt various industries have somehow overlooked the "Santa Claus for hire" industry. How could I be so blind?

As TIME recently pointed out, this space is populated by seasonal employees who brave germ-infested (darling) young kids making kind, offbeat and occasionally disturbing requests... all in the name of earning perhaps $5,000 to $15,000 per season.

By the way, TIME covered this in their Careers & Workplace section.

I wracked my brain wondering how technology might revolutionize this space, and quickly rejected some wacky possibilities... the holographic Santa (too cold and aloof)... the mind-reading Santa teamed with a brain-computer interface cap that each kid must wear (too Big Brother)... the sexy new slimmed-down Santa, driving a Tesla Model S (too expensive.)

It soon became obvious that maybe the solution to every problem does not lie with technology. This answer lies somewhere else: in your heart, and in the hearts of everyone who has ever made a wish.

I'd like to suggest that for every wish granted by Santa Claus or someone who looks like Santa Claus, many more have been granted by people who look like you. So here's the disruptive idea I'd like to propose:

Imagine if every child who visited Santa Claus had to grant a wish in order to make a wish.

Instead of just saying to Santa, "I want a pony!," your son or daughter would also have to say, "I'd like to help the person who needs a light so she can do her homework at night."

Your local Santa Claus would become a skilled intermediary, not only listening carefully to the wishes of children, but also matching life-saving requests with the kids and families best able to grant them.

It wouldn't be up to the kids to do this on their own; their families would help. The wishes given to the kids wouldn't be for presents such as a new TV or a videogame; they would be for necessities that other kids and families need, such as clean drinking water, or a safe place to sleep.

Some may say this would take the magic out of Christmas, but I'd like to suggest it would teach a new generation how to find magic nearly everywhere they look.

Truth be told (SPOILER ALERT), you don't need Santa Claus to enable you and your family to grant wishes from people who are desperately in need of assistance. I can explain this a little better in pictures than words, so please take one minute more to understand my one wish for this holiday season:
If wished were horses then beggars would ride...