a paradigm shift..being able to see, that a technology fills a need that people don't even know that they have

Is this the difference between invention and innovation? I've never quite been clear on that one.

Paradigm shifts were first described by Kuhn (nice summary of his viewpoint here: http://cgi.student.nada.kth.se/cgi-bin/d95-aeh/get/kuhneng) the term used in relation to "scientific revolutions" i.e. the old ways take a lot of shifting, and the history books get rewritten afterwards so that it looks like the revolutionary development was a natural conclusion of what was happening already. I found his book enlightening and refreshingly honest; rationality doesn't really rule the roost, and the tree needs shaking from time to time.

But but - we're still no closer to a word for people who can (or can't) make a kind of paradigm shift in their predictions, allowing for revolution(s) to come. It's a real skill to be able to discard the (recorded) past and present when looking ahead, so surely there should be a word for it!

I think I may try to invent one