* Novgorod State University, Novgorod, Russia; # University Pais Vasco, San Sebastian, Spain; + City College, CUNY, New York, USA . Request address: TRIZExperts@hotmail.com

Fifty years ago an amazing methodology /TRIZ/for searching and solving complicated creative problems that have no solution algorithm was created by Genrich S. Altshuller [1-4] in Russia. TRIZ was created on the 1,500,000 worldwide patents analysis and won an international recognition recently [5]. TRIZ is intended for engineers, researchers, journalists, students, college and school teachers. TRIZ has now been adapted from 4 years old children to senior engineers and chief managers.

Unfortunately TRIZ is not exact science yet [6,7], but rather a set of powerful methods. Modern TRIZ [1-3,7-10] offers several techniques and ways for solving creative problems. Some powerful instruments of TRIZ are following: standard solutions [3]; substance/field/carrier analysis; lists of physical, chemical, geometrical [2,11] and biological effects; the multi-step algorithm [3, 6]; knowledge bases from materials science [12], and medicine; and several others . Therefore, to master TRIZ thinking one has to listen to a systematized course of lectures that covers various TRIZ topics. The length of various traditional TRIZ courses vary from 20 up to 240 hours [2,3], the extensive course is prepared now by the authors.

In this paper we are going to introduce briefly some non-technological aspects of TRIZ, that we will call as thinking methods.

Whereas psychology and neurophysiology study thinking mechanisms (cortex and subcortex processes) and logic studies thinking forms and laws, TRIZ studies the development laws of technical systems (so called evolution). The development sources for technical systems are dialectical contradictions (a), the ways of solving these contradictions and technical systems themselves (so as to know their resources) using, undoubtedly, the results of psychology, logic, creativity and other sciences. All technical systems have resources (b) for their improvement up to higher world standards /to so-called ideal system(c)/, and also for reducing production costs and ones connected with getting into sales markets.

Hence, the TRIZ theoretical basis is the objective (independent of human beings) laws of the development of technical systems that can be studied and used for effective solving both technical and non-technical creative problems [13].

The main ideas of TRIZ are as follows: "If the conditions of a creative problem do not contradict laws of nature, this problem can be solved by different ways, some of them lead to strong innovative solutions." TRIZ proceeds from the following proposition: if a person has enough knowledge to solve a given problem, there is a solution to the problem in his subcortex. The trouble is that he or she cannot extract it from there.

1. The condition for successful problem solving is the capability to generate non-standard ideas. It is a well-known fact that riches originates in a rich idea, therefore TRIZ curricula includes the subcourse "Creative Imagination Development and Thinking Inertia Elimination" [14]. During this subcourse students create their own scientific fictions, tales, arts.

2. TRIZ offers a completely new genius thinking method - "System of systems" - that unites three approaches - dialectical, systematic and functional ones - into one thinking process, which allows to see of what parts (subsystems) the system under study consists, where this system can be included in as a part (super-systems), the state of subsystems and super-systems at present, in the past and their development in future, and also alt he relations between them. This method is a part of the modern Algorithm For Solving Inventive Problems (d).

3. And the last thinking method " named small smart people assembles or MMD". According to this method the problem solver should imagine that his/her object consists not of usual technical parts (like transistors or gears) and even not of molecules or atoms, but of many small smart people that can act and feel rather like one or a few assemble(s) than like crowd in order to perform the right behaviour of the object. Nice description of this method is now available from the Altshuller’s book translated in English [4].

4. Although G.S. Altshuller criticized various "attempts and errors" methods like brainstorming and synectics [1], we think that TRIZ and these (as well some others western) methods with some aspects of creativity science [15] can reach each other.

Returning to the title of the article, we would like to conclude that TRIZ gives an opportunity to increase technical, economic and artistic creativity of any person, but this opportunity would not be realized without hard work of the person.

Footnotes:

(a). The CONTRADICTION is one of the principal concepts of TRIZ. Contradiction is the interaction of mutually exclusive demands to the same object. Improving one of the system parameters cannot deteriorate other parameters. There are 3 different levels of contradictions, recognized in TRIZ- administrative, technical and physical [11].

(b). RESOURCES are other principal concepts of TRIZ. They should be internal and external and usually connected with space (dimension), time of operation and materials in the system [12].

(c). Among dozens of technical systems development laws [1-3,10], the principal one is the law of ideality increasing In other words, this is the law of increasing the degree of human needs satisfaction. The ideal technical systems, according to TRIZ ideology, are the technical systems that are absent with all of their functions being fulfilled. Let us stress that IDEALITY concept is applied not only to technical systems, but to many others.

Let us illustrate the first three concept mentioned in the footnotes by the following example:

Surgeons use thin needles and threads for suturing thin vessels. However, a thread twist in the eye of a needle damages delicate vessels. What is to be done? The contradiction is as follows: there must be a held to puncture the wall of a vessel and stretch out a thread, but the tissue is inadmissible damaged under the circumstances. The ideal solution: there is no needle but all of its functions are being fulfilled. The resource is the surface of a needle. A needle with its tip metallized has been offered.

(d). A simplified algorithm (ARIZ) for solving problems includes the following steps: realize a problem, formulate a contradiction, formulate an ideal solution, find resources for its solution, determine the "strength" of the solutions and choose the best one, analyze the solution process ("learn a lesson"), prevent similar problems, predict development of the technical system considered within the problem.

One’s can find an example of ARIZ in our WWW site.
 
 

References:

[1]. G. S. Altshuller, Creativity as an Exact Science: The Theory of the Solution of Inventive Problems. (Translated from the Russian by Anthony Williams.) New York: Gordon and Breach, 1984. A theoretical development of the method, with many examples, though somewhat dated and ill-translated.

[2]. G. S. Altshuller, B.L. Zlotin, A.V. Zusman and V.I. Filatov, The new ideas search: From intuition to technology. (in Russian) /Ðûüòøóûûõð Ó. á., ×ûþòøý Ñ. Û., ×ó¸üðý Ð. Ò., äøûðòþò Ò. Ø. ßþø¸ú ýþòûõ øôõù - Þò øýòóøöøø ú òõõýþûþóøø. Úøøøýõò. 1989, 381c. /

[3]. G. S. Altshuller, Find an idea (in Russian) /Ðûüòøóûûõð Ó. á. Ýðùòø øôõþ. Ýþòþ¸øñøð¸ú. Ýðóúð. 1986, 1991. 221c./

[4]. H. Altov, And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared. (Translated and adapted from the Russian by Lev Shulyak.) Worcester, MA: Technical Innovation Center, 1994. 156 p. This book, written by Altshuller under a pseudonym, is aimed at secondary school students and while not rigorous in its development, provides an entertaining look at how the methods of TRIZ can be applied to a variety of problems.

[5]. Jenifer Ouellette, TRIZ-based tools promote inventive self-sufficiency. The Industrial Physicist, 1996 v2., #3 (September). (Available upon request to TRIZExperts@hotmail.com)

[6]. V. V. Sushkov, N.J.I. Mars, P.M. Wognum, Introduction to TIPS: a Theory for

Creative Design, AI in Engineering, 1995, v.9 , #3.

[7]. S. D. Savransky, TRIZ from a theoretician physicist point of view (In preparation; please see http://www.trizexperts.net/savransky-triz-papers.htm)

[8]. S. D. Savransky and C. Stephan, TRIZ: The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, The Industrial Physicist, 1996 v2., #4 (December).

[9]. S. D. Savransky A methodology to make inventions . Inventors Network Newspaper, 1996 v.1 #4 (October). On-line publication: http://www.inventnet.com/

[10] James Kowalick, 17 secrets of an inventive mind: How to conceive world class products rapidly using TRIZ and other leading edge creative tools. The TRIZ Journal, 1996, v.1 #1 (November). On-line publication: http://www.triz-journal.com/

[11]. S. D. Savransky and A. Kasymov, How TRIZ helps to study physics. Submitted to American Journal of Physics, 1997

[12]. S. D. Savransky, The materials science effects: Huge database for TRIZ, Russian TRIZ Journal (in preparation).

[13]. See a collection from http://www.trizexperts.net/savransky-triz-papers.htm

[14]. G. S. Altshuller and I. Vertkin, How to become a genius (Strategy of self-development a creative person) . (in Russian) /Ðûüòøóûûõð Ó. á., Òõðòúøý Ø. Úðú ¸òðòü óõýøõü (áòððòõóøÿ òòþð÷õ¸úþù ûø÷ýþ¸òø). 1994. 478 ¸./

[15]. See a collection from http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative

Draft Version. March 1996