Not too long ago, I ran across an article that, after I read it, was the kind of thing that sticks with you all day: Perspective: Integrated market-immersion approach to teaching NPD in technology-oriented teams. For ten years, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been teaching engineers about marketing.

It’s a fascinating read, and starts out as you’d expect: “Technically trained students resist qualitative research methods.” The typical electrical engineer works “assiduously to avoid interacting with and observing his market.” Or, “The more subjective and interpretive methods are the most strenuously resisted.”

Then, something amazing happens. The authors from Rensselaer reveal that “Paradoxically, these qualitative methods are those that prove to be the most valuable to and valued by (emphasis mine) this type of student—once the student has been forced to overcome his resistance.”

We’ve seen this same transformation in business. Engineers embrace marketing tools (especially when they are designed for them) when they see how they can use them to make better products. They want that, as much (or more), than anyone else. We’re not going to force anyone to do anything; hopefully the logic of our approach carries the day: when engineers know more about marketing, and marketers know more about technology, insanely great things can happen (to paraphrase someone that blends the two extremely well).

Authors Katherine Silvester, Jeffrey Durgee, Christopher McDermott and Robert Veryzer offer a lot more insight, so check out the Journal of Product Innovation Management magazine, January 2002.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 7:02 am and is filed under Collaboration, Engineers, Marketing, Team Intelligence, Universities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.