Insiders’ Views of the Valley of Death: Behavioral and Institutional Perspectives

Abstract

Valley of death describes the metaphorical depths to which promising science and technology too often plunge, never to emerge and reach their full potential. Behavioral and institutional perspectives help in understanding the implications of choices—characterized by Field of Dreams imagery—that inadvertently lead into rather than over the valley of death. A workshop conducted among a diverse set of scientists, managers, and technology-transfer staff at a US national laboratory is a point of departure for discussing behavioral and institutional elements that promote or impede the pathway between research and use and for suggesting actionable measures that can facilitate the flow of information and products from research toward use. In the complex systems that constitute research institutions, where competing pressures can create barriers to information or technology transfer, one recommendation is to reframe the process as a more active ushering toward use.

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