On Valentine's Day, I thought we'd take a moment to reflect on sharing the love about TRIZ.
I've been involved with TRIZ since 2007, not as a technical engineer or scientist, but as someone who sees and hears how much it benefits them. This article sources real experiences of real TRIZ users...
All teams use brainstorming at one time or another. Aren't we all so familiar with the wall full of post-it notes and the exhilaration of being encouraged to think 'outside the box'?! Brainstorming reveals everyone's solutions - good and bad. But where do you go from there? It can be hard to move forwards as everyone jostles to put their own idea forward.
What I have seen TRIZ tools do in a room - is to take the problem solving beyond brainstorming, in a very structured and clear-thinking way that engineers love.
Take the example of the Rolls Royce turbine problem solved by TRIZ:
One afternoon the TRIZ 40 Principles were used as a stimulus for brainstorming with a group of engineers. The TRIZ Principle 13 “The Other Way Round” yielded the idea of modelling air in passage, rather than the metal itself. This worked perfectly!
Dave Knott – Rolls-Royce, Derby
Those who have fallen in love with TRIZ take the time to spread the love. TRIZ Expert Andrew Martin has spent years developing the TRIZ Effects Database as gift to the global TRIZ community. The Effects Database provides answers to queries in the form of a list of Effects, i.e. physical phenomena or applications of physical phenomena and it is used widely by 'TRIZniks' all over the world.
There are many other free resources made available to interested TRIZ users and subject groups to join.
Alistair Clarke and his team at Sanofi used Oxford TRIZ as part of a programme of sustainable growth in patent development and they increased sales from $1.5 billion to $6 billion in 6 years.
It's amazing to think how much 'love was all around' when they went from writing six patents per annum to 276 per annum!
Learning TRIZ in a group is a very productive way to learn - people love the interaction and support. I believe that learning should be an enjoyable yet challenging and participatory experience - it's all about taking TRIZ off the page and into the classroom.
Over 20 years, Karen Gadd has developed Oxford TRIZ which takes all the rigour of classical TRIZ (neither adding nor removing anything) but instead delivers even more powerful results and a much faster and easier way to learn and apply TRIZ
Our alumni have described workshops as "lively, unusual, fast paced and fun" which keeps everyone engaged, interested, and open to new directions.
Problem solvers love that they can start using TRIZ as a complementary toolkit with other tools they already use - Root Cause Anaylsis, Lean, Agile etc.
They don't feel that effort or money already invested has been wasted, they simply start applying Oxford TRIZ tools and processes when other toolkits run out of steam.
Switch on the light! Try TRIZ and see if you come to love it too...
If you would like to learn more about how to use Oxford TRIZ tools and understand why it helps companies and individuals achieve real success in problem solving, please sign up for one of our training courses.