Mulbury Six Sigma

Six Sigma TRIZ

What is TRIZ?

TRIZ (pronounced 'trees') comes from the systematic study of 2.5 million patents, resulting in the very essence of how people have solved technical problems in all spheres of engineering and design. From his work, Altshuller identified several key aspects of problem solving and extended his observations to a complete algorithm of how to think inventively.

Patterns of evolution. Altshuller noticed that individual problems in different fields of technology were often solved in the same way but at different times by different people. He also noticed that technology passed through fairly well defined stages along an 'S' curve of advancement. By using this principle he was able to identify solutions from other areas outside of the main problem area, and he was able to look for areas where technological evolution had not been exploited.

Innovative principles. Altshuller took all the solutions from the patents and classified them into 40 distinct groups, from which he has devised the 40 innovative principles. Although these are heavily based on engineering problems, most of them apply well to service or business problems (or problems in life generally). This is probably the most used and useful of all the component parts of TRIZ and can often be used simply to help generate new ideas!

Contradictions. Any problem is a challenge, and patents document inventive ways in which people have solved problems. Altshuller noticed that the root issue behind any problem is a contradiction, where two things or features are in opposition. If one gets better, then the other gets worse, and the problem is to overcome this challenge. By accentuating the contradiction and reducing it down to the fundamental issue we are much more likely to think clearly and inventively. In the best situations contradictions come down to one physical characteristic that has to be two opposites at the same time - big and small, light and heavy, hot and cold.

Resources. Unlike our normal view of a resource, in TRIZ resources are the things that are currently not being used. Inventive solutions come from using a feature or aspect that is currently there but latent. The first step to good creativity is to identify and list out all of the resources. TRIZ often goes further by identifying tools and objects and looking at their interactions. Such interactions can be good or harmful, and contradictions are often associated with harmful forces. Clearly if we can either remove the contradiction or solve it, we have solved the problem!

Ideality. The best solution is one that resolves the contradictions, uses idle resources, and moves towards the ideal solution. Ideality is the sum of all benefits, divided by the sum of all costs together with the sum of all harm. Arriving at the ideal solution we have maximum benefit at zero cost with zero harmful effects, and since in reality such perfection cannot be achieved, we have plenty of scope for trying!
 

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