A serious paradox exists in the push and pull of technical innovations. On one hand, the innovator of a technology can envision each of the possible market applications by mapping its benefits and matching those benefits with prospective consumers.  On the other hand, the chief technology officer (CTO) struggles to identify those technologies which present possible solutions to his or her need for technical solutions or new product platforms.

This paradox is analogous to a two way mirror or looking glass.  The innovator, with technology in hand, can stand on one side of the mirror and clearly see the CTO as a possible buyer.  However, the CTO, standing on the other side of the mirror, sees only his own reflection and is blind to valuable technologies outside of his own dimension.

The cure to this blindness lies in the CTO shedding the constraints or limitations imposed by the framework in which a sought after technology is defined.  If the CTO can redefine his or her search for a technology in terms of the customer/market perspective instead of the company’s need for an incremental improvement to or change over from an existing product, it becomes easier to scout for suitable technologies.

Various technology transfer programs and practices serve as a basis for this form of schizophrenic analysis - an illustration of the classical push/pull paradigm.  These programs and practices continuously and concurrently communicate technical concepts in terms of consumer benefit, business opportunity, and technology characteristics.  Adoption of these programs and practices by CTO’s will increase technical vision to improve technology acquisition.

Karl Dakin

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