TRIZ

TRIZ is an approach that combines an organized and systematic method for problem solving with analysis and forecasting techniques derived from the study of patterns of invention in the global patent literature. The development and improvement of products and technologies in accordance with TRIZ are guided by the objective laws of technical systems evolution, forming the basis for TRIZ problem solving tools and methods. It was developed by Genrich Altshuller, a Soviet inventor, and science-fiction author, along with his colleagues, starting in 1946. In English the name is typically rendered as the theory of inventive problem solving, and occasionally goes by the English acronym TIPS.
Following Altshuller's insight, the theory developed on a foundation of extensive research covering hundreds of thousands of inventions across many different fields to produce an approach that defines generalizable patterns like inventive solutions and the distinguishing characteristics of the problems these inventions have overcome.
The research has produced three primary findings:
Problems and solutions are repeated across industries and sciences
Patterns of technical evolution are also replicated across industries and sciences
The innovations used scientific effects outside the field in which they were developed
TRIZ practitioners apply all these findings to create and improve products, services, and systems.
History
TRIZ in its classical form, was developed by the Soviet inventor and science fiction writer Genrich Altshuller and his associates. He started developing TRIZ in 1946 while working in the "Inventions Inspection" department of the Caspian Sea flotilla of the Soviet Navy. His job was to help with the initiation of invention proposals, to rectify and document them, and to prepare applications to the patent office. During this time, he realized that a problem requires an inventive solution if there is an unresolved contradiction in the sense that improving one parameter negatively affects another. He later called these "technical contradictions".
His work on what later resulted in TRIZ was interrupted in 1950 by his arrest and sentencing to 25 years in the Vorkuta Gulag labor camps. The arrest was partially triggered by letters that he and Raphael Shapiro sent to Stalin, ministers, and newspapers about certain decisions made by the Soviet Government, which they believed were erroneous. Altshuller and Shapiro were freed during the Khrushchev Thaw following Stalin's death in 1953 and returned to Baku.
The first paper on TRIZ titled "On the psychology of inventive creation" was published in 1956 in "Issues in Psychology" (Voprosi Psichologii) journal.
Altshuller also observed clever and creative people at work: he uncovered patterns in their thinking and developed thinking tools and techniques to model this "talented thinking". These tools include Smart Little People and Thinking in Time and Scale (or the Screens of Talented Thought).
In 1986, Altshuller switched his attention away from technical TRIZ, and started investigating the development of individual creativity. He also developed a version of TRIZ for children, which was trialed in various schools. In 1989 the TRIZ Association was formed, with Altshuller chosen as president.
Following the end of the Cold War, the waves of emigrants from the former Soviet Union brought TRIZ to other countries. They drew attention to it overseas. In 1995 the Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies was established in Boston.
Basic principles
One of the tools which evolved as an extension of the 40 principles was a contradiction matrix.
Basic terms
Ideal final result (IFR) - the ultimate romantic solution of a problem when the desired result is achieved by itself.
Inventive principles and the matrix of contradictions
Altshuller screened patents to discover what kind of contradictions were resolved or dissolved by the invention and how this had been achieved. From this, he developed a set of 40 inventive principles and later a matrix of contradictions.
Use of TRIZ on management problems
Although TRIZ was developed from the analysis of technical systems, it has been used widely to understand and solve complex management problems. Examples include finding additional cost savings for the legal department of a local government body: the inventive solution generated was to generate additional revenue [insert reference to cost-cutting in local government case study]. The results of the TRIZ work are expected to generate £1.7 m in profit in the first 5 years.
Use of TRIZ methods in industry
Case studies on the use of TRIZ are challenging to acquire as many companies believe TRIZ gives them a competitive advantage and are reluctant to publicize their adoption of the method. However, some examples are available: Samsung is the most famous success story and has invested heavily in embedding TRIZ use throughout the company, right up to and including the CEO; "In 2003 TRIZ led to 50 new patents for Samsung and in 2004 one project alone, a DVD pick-up innovation, saved Samsung over $100 million. TRIZ is now an obligatory skill set if you want to advance within Samsung".
Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and GE are all documented users of TRIZ; Mars has documented how applying TRIZ led to a new patent for chocolate packaging.
TRIZ has also been used successfully by Leafield Engineering, Smart Stabilizer Systems, and Buro Happold to solve problems and generate new patents.
Various promoters of TRIZ reported that car companies Rolls-Royce, Ford, and Daimler-Chrysler, Johnson & Johnson, aeronautics companies Boeing, NASA, technology companies Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, General Electric, Xerox, IBM, LG, Samsung, Intel, Procter & Gamble, Expedia and Kodak have used TRIZ methods in some projects.
European TRIZ Association
The European TRIZ Association is a nonprofit association; based in Germany, founded in 2000. it holds conferences with associated publications.
Modifications and derivatives
SIT (systematic inventive thinking) & SIT Company - A company developed based on this method
USIT (unified structured inventive thinking)
TOP-TRIZ (a modern version of further developed and integrated TRIZ methods.) “TOP-TRIZ includes further development of problem formulation and problem modeling, development of Standard Solutions into Standard Techniques, further development of ARIZ and Technology Forecasting. TOP-TRIZ has integrated its methods into a universal and user-friendly system for innovation.”
In 1992, several TRIZ practitioners fleeing the collapsing Soviet Union relocated and formed a company named Ideation International, Inc. Under the Ideation banner, they continued to develop their version of TRIZ and named it I-TRIZ. I-TRIZ consists of four methodologies: Inventive Problem Solving (IPS), Anticipatory Failure Determination (AFD), Intellectual Property (IP), and Directed Evolution (DE), as well as a knowledge base of over 400 "operators" where each operator is an innovative concept gleaned from the study of international patents stemming from Altshuller's original work.
See also
Brainstorming
C-K theory
Lateral thinking
Morphological analysis
Systems theory
Trial-and-error
Systematic Inventive Thinking
References
Books on TRIZ
1946 introductions
Problem solving
Creativity techniques
Soviet inventions