Altshuller, Genrich

TRIZ Genrich Altshuller, Creativity as an Exact Science [C-20]... 

TRIZ is a problem solving method that was developed by Genrich Altshuller over a forty-year period in the former Soviet Union [C-20], it has many devotees, used in many major companies and there is an on-line journal devoted to the topic [C-21], The acronym is derived from the Russian for Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. It is very different from the other creativity techniques described above, in that it operates via a study of patterns of problems and solutions and not by the spontaneous creativity of individuals and groups. It was based on the analysis of over 1.5 million patents, since extended to 2.8 million, to discover patterns that predict breakthrough solutions to problems. 

There are many ways you can predict trends in an industry, and there are numerous trend gurus whose work could be helpful. We like the work of Genrich Altshuller, the founder of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), because it s one of the most empirical approaches. We also favor the work of U.K.-based author Darrell Mann, who has built on Altshuller s paradigm oi systematic innovation to refine it for further use. 

What is a contradiction matrix This is shown in Fig. 7.9 (a portion of the matrix the complete matrix is shown in the appendix). TRIZ founder Genrich S. Altshuller, while going through 40,000 most inventive patents, found that there are around 1250 technical contradictions which he was able to assemble in a 39 x 39 matrix called the contradiction matrix. To resolve these contradictions, again through the 40,000 most inventive patents back in 1950, Altshuller invented 40 inventive prin-... 

TRIZ is the Russian acronym for the theory of inventive problem solving. The Russian inventor and patent expert Genrich Altshuller originally proposed this theory. Fie began working on it in the 1940s, and today there are many schools established by his followers, who continue to expand on the concept of TRIZ and adapt it for various markets and applications. 

Figure 9.1 Genrich Altshuller. (With permission. Drawn by Joy E. Tartter.)...

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