Systematic Innovation using TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving)
In recent times, it has become apparent that corporations who seek innovative solutions to current and potential problems are able to maintain competitive edge. The term ‘Innovation’ finds a mention in the annual reports of leading companies viz. IBM, AIG, Infosys, Wipro, Sony, Samsung more than 20 times.

However, changing tracks from ‘proven’ products/processes/systems is not easy. The very things we cherished in the past are like to be the hindering (mental) blocks. Specialist training, habits, paradigms, working environment and above all human nature and brain constrain our innovative thinking. We need to overcome this ‘psychological inertia’ to obtain innovative solution concepts for chronic technical and business problems.

‘Theory of Inventive Problem Solving’ - "TRIZ" is the acronym for the same phrase in Russian. TRIZ was developed by Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues in the former USSR starting in 1946, and is now being developed and practiced throughout the world.
By a comprehensive research on global patent database over the last 60 years it has been established that are that the world currently contains a very small number (40) of Inventive Principles and that all technology evolution trends are predictable. These Inventive Principles have been validated for its application to Business, Management, Software and scenarios.

TRIZ provides means for problem solvers to access the best solutions obtained by the world's finest inventive minds. The basic process by which this occurs is illustrated in the figure above. Essentially, TRIZ researchers have encapsulated the principles of good inventive practice and set them into a generic problem-solving framework. The task of problem definers and problem solvers using the large majority of the TRIZ tools thus becomes one in which they have to map their specific problems and solutions to and from this generic framework.

By using the global patent database as the foundation for the method, TRIZ effectively overcomes all the boundaries that exist between different industry sectors. The generic problem-solving framework thus allows engineers, scientists, managers and technologists working in any field, to access the good practices of any other field of science, engineering, business and software.

The Soviet initiated Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, TRIZ, is a series of tools, methods and strategies developed through over 1500 person years of research and the study of over two million of the world's most successful patents.
The key findings of TRIZ research are that:

•	All innovations emerge from the application of a very small number of inventive principles and strategies
•	Technology and Business evolution trends are highly predictable
•	The strongest solutions transform the unwanted or harmful elements of a system into useful resources
•	The strongest solutions also actively seek out and destroy the conflicts and trade-offs most design practices assume to be fundamental

TRIZ offers users access to the knowledge and experiences of the world's finest inventive minds. It is intended to complement and add structure to our natural creativity rather than replace it.

TRIZ can be used in a number of different ways. An overall process enables users to systematically define and then solve any given problem or opportunity situation. TRIZ effectively strips away all boundaries between different scientific, engineering, management and creative discipline and its effectiveness has been proved across a broad spectrum of fields and problem types.