TRIZ is a systematic method to increase creativity, based on the study of patent evolution models and other types of solutions to problems. Intuitive problem solvers will find that the TRIZ method provides additional insights. People who solve problems in a structured way will find that the TRIZ method provides them with additional structures.
Technical creativity is the set of "creative reasoning" procedures that aim to solve problems with innovative solutions. The technical name is added to the word creativity to differentiate it from artistic creativity and exclude from its scope any aspect related to art, although it can handle ergonomic or aesthetic criteria. This methodology is typical of the Engineering area.
A problem is understood to be a circumstance in which the current situation does not coincide with certain expectations. This broad definition indicates that technical creativity can be used for almost anything, although the main applications are in business and in research, where it is used to solve strategy, management or technology problems.
Creative reasoning is a modified way of reasoning that seeks to obtain low probability, novel and innovative ideas that would not be accessible otherwise. The different ways that exist to provoke this type of special reasoning are creativity techniques.
Most of the techniques that exist, including all the classical techniques, use an alteration of the "habitual reasoning" by a procedure specific to each technique. For the generation of ideas, it is not necessary to be an expert in the subject on which reasoning is made, although in the process of solving a problem there are phases of analysis of the ideas contributed and of construction of the solution, which must be carried out by specialists.
This wide group of techniques, based on Intuition, psychology and imagination, voluntarily dispenses with previous knowledge of patents on the element under study.
TRIZ is based on the Knowledge of the element's patents and its Management.
TRIZ is surprising for the speed and quality of the results obtained and thanks to them important advances have been made and problems of extreme difficulty in the Industries and Basic Sciences have been resolved.
See in the bibliography the large number of applications in all fields of Knowledge (1).
No other creative method has the vast number of applications in Processes, Products and Services that TRIZ has.
See the Triz journal page in the bibliography. (2)
This "TRIZ" problem-solving technique is unique in its conception since it arises from a different approach, which consists of using the maximum available knowledge about a specific problem and reaching its solution by adapting previously applied solutions to problems. Similar.
TRIZ is the first technique that has been defined as "based on knowledge", but not the only one, since other techniques have been built from it, derived from it.
On the other hand, at the same time as the TRIZ and by the same person, the ARIZ was created, an algorithmic procedure that uses the TRIZ and that will not be discussed here given the complexity of the basic technique, however, for those interested, contact to www.altshuller.ru
Geinrich Altshuller
The expression TRIZ comes from the Russian word “ТРИЗ”, which is the acronym for “Inventive Problem Solving Theory”. Although TRIZ has become widespread throughout the world and in some American publications, the word TIPS (Theory Inventive Problem Solving) can be found.
The creator of the TRIZ method was Genrich Altshuller, a Russian engineer who developed the theory through the analysis of one and a half million patents for inventions as of 1990. He realized that although the inventions he analyzed solved different problems in fields as well Very different, the solutions applied could be obtained from a relatively small set of basic ideas or principles of invention.
Altshuller published his first article on TRIZ in 1956. Between 1961 and 1979 he wrote the basic books, exposing the method in an orderly way and introducing the name TRIZ in the text "Creativity as an Exact Science." This last book was the first to be translated into English and published outside the Soviet Union in 1984, although it did not attract much attention due to the complexity of the theory presented and because the translation was deficient.
Altshuller and TRIZ achieved international recognition in 1990, when the book “And suddenly the inventor appeared” was published in the United States, in which the method is explained in a much more understandable way. The TRIZ method had already been recognized in the Soviet Union as a very valuable contribution in 1970. The first seminar on TRIZ was held in 1969, the first school was created in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1974 and the Russian Association of TRIZ was established in 1989.
The method has been applied almost exclusively to solving technical or technological problems, but given the immense number of these problems, today it is the creativity technique most used by companies and Universities.
Genrich Altshuller continued all his life working on the method, making new contributions and forming a group of “TRIZ masters”, main continuators of the development.
Development
The development of the TRIZ method, in a first stage, is linked to Altshuller and his collaborators. Between 1974 and 1986 TRIZ worked exclusively in the different Russian schools or study centers, among which the Kishinev school of 1982 stands out, which has been the main center of TRIZ for a long period of time.
In 1986 the first TRIZ engineering companies were established in Russia and in 1992 in the United States. From this moment on, the advancement of the method is linked more to companies than to universities or study centers.
Outside of Russia there are three countries, the United States, Israel and Japan, that have distinguished themselves by accepting and promoting TRIZ.
Some Russian experts have established their residence in the United States and it is in this country where, in addition to Russia, the greatest advances are currently being made.
Important milestones in the development of TRIZ, starting in 1979, are the introduction of “standard solutions” and the ARIZ 85 version and the start of software development in 1991.
The development of TRIZ has followed several paths in parallel. The first has been the improvement of the tools that we could call classical, such as the matrix of Contradictions and Standard Solutions and the ARIZ 85 algorithm.
A second development path has been the creation of new tools such as the corresponding Software.
They have been applied to classical problems but have also been used to extend the method to other fields of technology, Social Sciences, Microelectronics, or management.
And there are independent techniques, which share the theoretical bases with TRIZ, but carry out simplified proposals such as SIT Systematic Inventive Thinking.
See the articles on Systematic Inventive Thinking at the end of this presentation.
Finally, TRIZ has begun to be applied in conjunction with other well-known business management techniques such as "Six sigma" and with another creativity tool such as Synectics.
With these combinations, powerful management and creation systems are obtained.
The TRIZ method is proving as useful for the prediction and general planning of technological developments, as it is for solving specific problems, so its use (despite its complexity in the ARIZ 85 stage) is increasingly widespread.
Premise
There are two types of problems that humans must face:
Previously known solutions
Unknown solutions
Those with known solutions can usually be solved with information obtained from technical texts and specialized publications, as well as consultations with specialists in the field in question.
These solutions follow a troubleshooting pattern, as shown in the following figure:
Here the particular problem is raised to a standard problem of analogous or similar nature.
A standard is known and from this my particular solution will come. Example: Suppose we need to design a rotary device whose output is 100 rpm, starting from a 2300 rpm AC electric motor.
The analogous standard problem is how to reduce engine speed.
The analog standard solution is a speed reducer or gearbox, then this reducer will be designed with appropriate dimensions, weight, torque, etc.
Inventive problems
For problems with unknown solutions they fall within the field of psychology, where the links between the brain, insight and innovation are studied methods, such as brainstorming and trial and error is usually suggested. Depending on the complexity of the problem, the number of trial and error will vary greatly.
If the solution falls within our experience or field, such as mechanical engineering, the number of trial and error will be somewhat less but it is still an irrational method.
If the solution is not reached, the engineer must look beyond their experience and knowledge, that is, they must venture into other fields, such as chemistry or electronics. Then the number of tests will grow depending on how well you can handle psychological tools such as brainstorming, intuition and creativity. An additional problem is that these psychological tools, such as experience and intuition, are difficult to transmit to another person within an organization.
This addresses what is called psychological inertia, where the solutions considered are within one's own experience and not looking to alternative technologies to develop new solution concepts. Example: A mechanical engineer may find a solution to your problem outside of his or her field of expertise.
TRIZ conditions
Geinrich Altshuller, builds a theory with the following conditions:
Be a systematic step-by-step procedure.
Be a guide through wide solution spaces to direct the steps to the ideal solution.
Be repeatable and reliable and not dependent on psychological tools.
It must allow access to the body of inventive knowledge.
It should allow adding elements to the inventive body of knowledge.
Be friendly enough to designers by following the general approach to solving inventive problems.
Altshuller sifted 1,500,000 patents, taking 200,000 of them trying to look only for inventive problems and how they were solved. Of these only 40,000 patents were considered inventive in 1990.
To date, the number of patents screened by TRIZ is estimated at more than two million.
There are still only about 45,000 inventive patents (which include a new phenomenon) and the rest are just routine improvements or new concepts.
An inventive problem is where the solution causes other problems, that is to say that when something is improved, other conditions worsen, and this was called a technical contradiction.
If we want to reduce the cost of a stamped metal part, we improve it by reducing the thickness of the sheet, but as a result its mechanical resistance suffers. To reach an ideal solution, compromise solutions or trade-offs must be eliminated, that is to say, completely eliminate the causes.
All these inventive patents were classified into 5 levels:
| level | Inventive degree | Origin knowledge | % Solution |
| one | Apparent solutions | Individual knowledge | 32% |
| two | Minor improvements | Knowledge within the company | Four. Five% |
| 3 | Major improvements | Knowledge within the company | 18% |
| 4 | New concepts | Knowledge outside the company | 4% |
| 5 | Discovery of new phenomena | All that is knowable | one% |
In general, 90% of the problems that professionals face were already solved somewhere under a certain type of Knowledge, so that if a path to the ideal solution could be followed, starting from the lowest level of their experience and knowledge staff and get to work towards the highest levels, most solutions could be deduced quickly from Knowledge Management.
These Knowledge are patents and technological discoveries to date.
The TRIZ method has an extensive theoretical base with some postulates. The main three of them are:
First Postulate: “Most man-made systems evolve according to predetermined patterns, rather than randomly. These guidelines can be known through the study of the evolution of various systems and the knowledge acquired and can be used to accelerate the evolution of other systems ”.
The second Postulate is a version of the closed world principle and says: “Most of the technical systems that exist have redundant resources, that is, they have more resources than necessary to perform the functions for which they were conceived. As a consequence, almost all systems can perform their function more effectively or perform additional functions, without needing to be modified ”.
Finally the third postulate says: “Common ways of solving problems or of improving a system, based on predetermined stages of evolution, can be found through the historical analysis of inventions. This allows the knowledge for innovation to be collected and transferred ”.
In future articles we will develop the different TRIZ tools with some examples.
Bibliography:
(1) web site with examples of TRIZ in Architecture, Computer Science, Medicine, Food, Basic Sciences, Public Health, Quality, Microelectronics, Engineering and Social Sciences in
(2) TRIZ Journal page in
