Do you need to innovate with impact in a short period of time?
There are many innovation methods on the market. Tools like Design Thinking, Sprint, Lego Serious Play, Brainstorming, etc. are probably known to most product developers. Some may have already participated in such practices. They are fun and enable people to think out of the box. Most of these tools focus on the interface of product and customer. Tools like Design Thinking are strong in creating value by putting the innovators into the point of view of the user or customer.
In many cases, however, it is necessary to dig deeper. Or the problem to be solved is not the design or interface to the customer. In many situations scientific, engineering and technology related problems must be addressed. For such questions, there is a very strong toolbox called “TRIZ” (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving).
TRIZ has the reputation of being extraordinarily strong but also demanding. The 40 Inventive Principles are already known amoung innovators in engineering, however, this method is still under used in most other disciplines and industries. Applying it will provide an unfair creative advantage over other innovators!
Here we will start with contradictions, a very strong way to describe the problem to solve. The 40 inventive principles can then be used to address those problems in a very targeted way. They are based on solution principles which were extracted from patent literature. They conclude successfull solution approaches and can be used to trigger tremendous creativity.
It can be used for:
- IP and patent generation
- Problem solving, especially in hard problems
- Cost saving
- Efficient innovation meetings and workshops