Inventing is to solve a current unmet need. Right?
Why is it so difficult for people to navigate through processes of patents and IP? Even when you come up with a stellar invention at the end of gruelling effort that completely solves an unmet need, it might not be enough. A competitor might get ahead by coming up with a better idea. In the blink of an eye, your perfect solution is not an ideal one anymore and you need to get back to the drawing board. Should you just give up at this moment or just take a step back? Step Back
TRIZ (or Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) teaches us how it is unnecessary to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, you don’t need to start from scratch and find a completely unique solution. Use already existing solutions in different technology areas fields to improve upon your idea. James Dyson came up with the idea of bagless vacuum cleaner by taking inspiration from cyclone technology being used in a sawmill. He might have thought of it as his ‘Eureka’ moment at the time but TRIZ helps you in finding similar solutions quicker and more methodically. In short, TRIZ can help you to think like a genius.
You can be so engrossed in your work that sometimes you can’t even see obvious solutions right in front of you. Many a times, you would wonder after your ‘Eureka’ moment how on earth you missed it all this while. It is often because you might be looking for the wrong thing – fixated on a particular function in place of the problem faced or looking in the wrong place. TRIZ helps its users to see the bigger picture – its like ‘turning the lights on’ in a dark room.
TRIZ was developed by a Soviet engineer & inventor – Genrich Altshuller. He studied huge amounts of global patent literature to find patterns of invention in all different technology fields resulting in some highly functional tools and processes for analysis & forecasting. These form the foundation of TRIZ.
TRIZ helps you to understand how different products have evolved in other areas and apply that existing knowledge to your own work area. Innovation Brainstorming sessions are no longer necessary to provide you with those sparks of genius or ‘Eureka Moments’. TRIZ approach can be used for structured innovation & increasing your creative productivity. You can finally arrive at your perfect solution, even when your requirements contradicts with each other