Part I: ‘There is no spoon’

Executive summary

(15-9-2017). The aim of this paper is to get in insight into the value and advantages of Triz for both people involved at the technology side of innovation (inventors, technology officers, scientists, researchers etc.) and those involved at the business side of innovation (business developers, marketing, business owners, investors etc.). Triz is a systematic innovation method, a theory of inventive (technological) problem solving. By describing what Triz is the advantages will become clear, but at the end of this white paper the advantages are recited.

Triz was developed by the reverse engineering thousands of inventions in which the question of investigation was ‘what are the principles behind all inventions’. It was discovered there were only a limited set of universal 40 principles of invention for all technological inventions of the past, present and future.

The essence of Triz is that if you abstract from a concrete inventive technological problem by defining the problem into an ‘abstract’ contradiction one or more of the 40 universal principles of inventive solutions are always given in order that you can proceed to apply them to your concrete inventive technological problem.

Some subject matter expertise is needed in the application of a universal principle to the concrete inventive technological problem. In that sense the concrete is not as concrete as you might think, but is ‘general’. Universal principles can easily be applied to general inventive technological problems.

One side of the contradiction refers to a function in a technological invention that needs to be preserved and the other side of the contradiction refers to a function in a technological invention that is going to be improved. One of the Triz tools is a Matrix in which the preserved function is found on the vertical axes and the to be improved function on the horizontal axes. Where the two functions meet one or more of the 40 universal principles are found. You can repeat the process to search for the ultimate solution for the improved function will be the function that will be the preserved function in the repetition and the preserved function will now be the to be improved function. No comprising trade-offs, but the ultimate inventive solution, invention.

Inventions evolve and Triz enables you to almost precisely predict the evolution of a technological invention. Triz is the only method to successful technology forecasting. Each invention will fall within one or more of 22 technological evolution trends.

The principles point to relevant solutions from all the possibilities and thus the value of Triz could be better understood if Triz is contradicted with the methodless unsystematic brainstorm sessions to ignite innovation. With a brainstorm the needle could be everywhere in the haystack, but with Triz you know in which small part of the haystack the needle could be found. With Triz you can focus your creative power directly.

Triz makes a distinction between five levels of inventive problems and thus solutions. In the highest levels technology touched upon science and the problems become more concrete and less general for those that lack scientific subject matter expertise. However because Triz is also a mind-set and method of thinking in solving contradictions Triz can also help scientist.

This enables you to almost precisely predict the evolution of a technological invention. Triz is the only method to successful technology forecasting. Each invention will fall within one or more of 22 technological evolution trends.

A short history of Triz is given and examples are given in which all of the above is explained clearly. This white paper ends with the most valuable advantages of Triz. This white paper does not include xTRiz, extended Triz in which Triz is extended with new tools to solve inventive (technological problems) and business problems, for this is only an introduction into Triz. 

Introduction to ‘persistent systematic innovation’

(4-9-2017). ‘There is no spoon’. That was the answer to the question posed by the main character Neo, the One, in the movie ‘The Matrix’ to a young boy bending a spoon with his mind, when Neo asked how he could bend the spoon. If we apply this to the world of innovation the dialogue would be as follows. ‘How did you solve that inventive technological problem? There is no inventive technological problem’! That is the key to understand that ‘persistent systematic innovation’ is not a contradiction, is not impossible and is quite easy to achieve.

Would you believe no technical problems exist? If I by sheer argumentation and pointing to facts would you be convinced and would you even believe spoons could be bend with the mind? First things first and let us proceed to the argument there are no technological inventive problems.

To understand that a problem is a problem for you, and thus subjective, the scheme beneath can be very helpful. All subjective problems are appearances of general problems (that have already been solved many times in history. Back in the early decades of the 20th century Altshuller (1926-1988), a Russian engineer, discovered, after studying more than 100.000 patents and reverse engineering the solutions they provided, that all technological problems have a limited amount of possible solutions provided by a limited amount of principles. He discovered that inventors with a lot of inventions on their name on average only use about four to five principles. Think of Mozart playing a piano with only five keys. He still would produce fine works of art, but with all the keys on a piano he will can be Mozart. Imagine if these inventors access to the forty principles discovered? Imagine you had all these general principles in view!

Give yourself a little time to ponder on this scheme it and an explanation will soon follow.

Are brainy storms for romantic geniuses?

Let us start by deconstructing the romantic idea of the efficiency of a ‘brainstorm’ and inspirational hunches of genius. Let me be clear that it is possible to innovate by brainstorming alone, but it is not a systematic (and thus less unpredictable) methodological way to innovate. A brainstorm is trying to go in one subjective jump from a subjective given problem to the objective solution. You might be lucky (and make an absolute jump), but chances are you are looking for a needle in a haystack. Trusting your luck is like making a business plan to buy a lottery ticket each week.

Triz solves the jump from a subjective problem to an objective solution by providing an objective method, a bridge, to always make it possible to find the right direction to solve the problem. With Triz you make the haystack a lot smaller meaning you can focus you creative brain energy, make the haystack a lot smaller by eliminating a whole bunch of possibilities.

Brainstorming is not a method for inventive problem solving for (romantic) geniuses, but we still have a romantic idea of inventive problem solving. We believe falsely that the genius has some divine connection in order that he can have solutions by using the connection at will. Even if there is truth in this that connection has been built by years of hard work and the connection can only be used when you pose a clear question for with clear questions clear answers can be given. To put it differently: geniuses do have that connection, but you do not become a genius by brainstorming alone.

Once most possibilities of a solution are eliminated and you are ‘left’ with a few principles, that give you a direction on how to solve the inventive problem, there is of course still a little room for romanticism for genius must show itself in the ability to apply the principles, to translate them, to the specific concrete situation you are dealing with right now.

The process of Triz

Negating the subjective problem by abstracting from the particular problem to a general problem

How this Triz work (for you)? First you will try to rephrase your particular problem into a general contradiction. By rephrasing the problem into a contradiction the problem you will clearly see the problem in itself. With the contradiction the problem is not seen clearly and is experienced as if you were in a more or less unconscious state without presence of mind. The rephrasing is an easy little step in the process to innovate, but it will be the basis of finding the right solution. In seeing the contradiction the problem becomes an actual visible problem. The problem makes its way from behind your eyes to being in front of you. The problem has become objectified.

For example you would like to make an armour that is both is as protecting as the present armours, but is easier to wear. Do not think the easier to wear means that the armour would be less safe for with Triz both wishes, qualities, are ‘secured’. In the Triz Matrix of contradictions we do not find ‘easier to wear’, but we can translate this to ‘flexibility’. ‘Protecting’ and ‘safety’ are not found either, but can be translated to ‘security’.

Note that a general solution provides that one quality is preserved and the other improved, but once you have succeeded you repeat the process of innovation by improving the quality that was preserved and preserve the quality that was improved.

The Triz Matrix of contradictions provides a general solution

Once the contradiction is formulated several solution directions are provided in the Triz Matrix. On the vertical column of the Triz Matrix the quality of the function you want to preserve is visible and on the horizontal row the quality of the function you want to improve is visible. You draw two lines and were they meet you will see the principle to the solution of your inventive problem. In our case of the armour one of the solution directions, solution options, or principles will be ‘segmentation (into smaller compartments)’. The general solution is ‘segmentation’

Triz is not a model aiming for consensus in which realising one quality will diminish the other quality, but making everybody happy in realising an ideal solution in which both qualities are realised.

GO TO PART II (LinkedIn did technologically not allow to upload the whole white paper. I must contact them to solve this technological inventive problem).

P.S. Want to no more on what Triz can do for you(r company)? Send me an invite via LinkedIn!