Why learn using the TRIZ-trainer system?
The solving of non-standard, creative problems allows finding a way out of a most difficult situation. This is true for both production and business, as well as for situations that arise in everyday life. An invention, a new effective idea gives an opportunity to take an accurate decision under limited resources, time and information.
Systematizing the problem-solving process itself and acting not chaotically, but by certain rules multiplies the inventive problem solving efficiency. The methods based on the General Theory of Strong Thinking (OTSM) and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) are effective and time tested. They significantly speed up the problem solving process and allow obtaining strong ideas.
The main idea of TRIZ is that inventions in the world of technology are not made accidentally, not only through intuition; their appearance is conditioned by the objective laws of technology evolution. These laws can be studied and used to create inventions and forecast the development of machines. TRIZ turns the production of new technical ideas into an exact science, because the process of inventive problem solving relies on a system of logical operations instead of an unstructured search.
Genrich Altshuller, the Soviet engineer and inventor started developing TRIZ in 1946. He worked with patent funds and studied the technology development regularities. In 1956, he published the first article on new methods of technical creativity. Today his theory is known and popular in many countries of the world.
What are the underlying concepts of TRIZ?
First. The appearance and evolution of technical systems are governed by objective laws. Any system evolves towards higher ideality. The system becomes ideal when it is absent but its function is fulfilled. The laws of the technical system evolution follow from the laws of the dialectic that are common for all systems.
Second. All strong inventions appeared with the aid of a certain number of repeating principles. This conclusion was made after analyzing a large body of patent information that incorporated the experience of many generations of inventors. These principles (heuristics) were identified and provided an opportunity to create new strong inventions.
Third. When improving a system, a situation of a technical contradiction often occurs, i.e. improving some of the system parameters leads to the worsening of its other parameters. TRIZ makes it possible to resolve the contradiction because the systematized representation of a problem allows logical operations to be used for finding a solution.
Using or studying TRIZ implies continuous development of creative imagination. TRIZ helps to struggle with psychological inertia and other disadvantages inherent in ordinary thinking.
Recently, the General Theory of Strong Thinking (OTSM), one of the TRIZ sections, has been actively developed. The General Theory of Strong Thinking helps to understand how a solver thinks when solving a problem. The theory provides different intellectual operations that significantly simplify the problem solving. The main provisions of this theory have been developed by Nikolay Khomenko. The combination of OTSM methods with TRIZ tools is the most effective way to solve complex problems.
The use of TRIZ dramatically increases the working efficiency of engineers and makes possible a technological breakthrough in this field. This is proved by impressive results of OTSM-TRIZ application at such major companies as SAMSUNG and POSCO. This training program has been created by using the author’s experience gained during his work for these companies.
The TRIZ-trainer system is based on original problem-solving methods that employ the fundamental concepts of OTSM-TRIZ technologies. The whole training process is based on the algorithm of improvement of problem situations (AIPS) that serves as the basis for building a standard problem-solving template.
The basic methodological materials are divided into three parts:
- test problems to be solved and handed over to the teacher;
- case studies used as analogs;
- description of theoretical provisions and tools used in accordance with OTSM-TRIZ.
In addition, the program includes glossary and a list of recommended literature.
There is a system of communication - chat for each problem being solved. It is used for submitting test works by students and consultations with teachers.
TRIZ-trainer is an interactive training system. The approach to training presented in the program resolves the contradiction characteristic of any training process.
- Training through seminars conducted by experienced teachers is an effective method of learning, but it is expensive and time-consuming.
- Training with the aid of computer programs is much less expensive, but the presentation material is not always clear enough and there is no one to answer the questions.
How is this contradiction eliminated in TRIZ-trainer?
The more economical computer training is used but its effectiveness is enhanced by the following method: the major part of the material is presented in the electronic form while the learning supervision and consultations are performed by experienced teachers.