TRIZ Textbooks:  CID Course for Children, 3-1G1
Topic 1.  Method of Solving Problems
 (Contradictions, Ideality, and Resources)
Planet of Unsolved Misteries:
Course of Creative Imagination Development (CID), 
3rd Grade, 1st Semester, Methodical Guide-Book
Natalia V. Rubina, 1999 [published in Russian]
English translation by Irina Dolina, Jun. 3, 2001
Technical Editing by Toru Nakagawa, Dec. 8, 2001
Posted in this "TRIZ Home Page in Japan" in English on Dec. 17, 2001 under the permission of the Author.
(C) N.V. Rubina, I. Dolina, and T. Nakagawa 2001

 
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Topic 1.  Method of Solving Problems
(Contradictions, Ideality, and Resources)

Lesson 1.

Workbook


1.  Warming-up

“Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade”.
3. Introduction to the lesson
  1. Author:
  2. Topic:        Ideality and resources.
  3. Content of the problem:  In order to leave his uninhabited island, Robinson Crusoe has been cutting a huge tree for a month.  It took several months to make a boat of this tree.  All the time Robinson tried not to think about the way how he was going to put this boat in the water.  When the boat was ready, it turned to be big, reliable, and ready to sail across the ocean; and then he couldn’t put this thought off any more.  The attempts to move the boat proved to be fruitless.  Robinson tried to act “vise versa” – to bring the water to the boat.  But when he calculated the amount of work he had to do, he gave up this idea.  What can be done in this situation?
  4. Solution:  –  ?
  5. Source of information:


4.  Main topic

     This problem is often used to teach a method of brain storming.  The brain storming is the most popular method of psychological stimulation of creative thinking.  At the lessons, devoted to the methods of creative thinking stimulation, we didn’t dwell upon this method on purpose.  However, the rules of holding the brain storming helped to find a way of solving problems, obtaining and implementing fantastic ideas.  “It has been noted long ago that a critical attitude and even a fear of being criticized is an substantial obstacle in the process of creative thinking.  Any new idea might be wrong, and if the author is afraid of being criticized, he wouldn’t suggest an unverified idea.  In this case many potentially good ideas are lost.  This circumstance became the starting point for creating a new method of organizing the process of thinking.  In order to remove the obstacle, caused by the fear of criticism, it was proposed to divide in time the processes of putting forward ideas and their critical evaluation.  Both of them should be conducted by different people.  The method, called the brain storming, was put forward by A. Osborne.

     In the USA the interest for the brain stroming was decreasing after 8-10 years of its emerging.  It was pushed out by synectics, which is its further development.  In GDR the brain storming was used under the title of “the conference of ideas”.  Though the expediency of using the brain stroming was proved, the initial expectations for this method were not realized.

    The best results of the brain storming are achieved while considering the problems of organizational character (for example, to find a new use for the produced production, to find a new form of advertising, etc.) or the relatively simple inventive problems”.  ("Theory and practice of solving inventive problems”, edited by G. S. Altshuller, Gorky, 1976, pp. 40-43.)
 

     Robinson Crusoe was a tireless inventor.  We have already mentioned his amazing adventures, studying the topic of “Resources”.  We are familiar with the methods, which will help us to find a solution of the problems that even the brave explorer couldn’t solve.

     In “Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade”, there are a selection of Robinson’s problems and some recommendations concerning their solving.


1. Your ideas about solving this problem:
     ____________________________________________________________
     ____________________________________________________________
     ____________________________________________________________
    ____________________________________________________________

2. Choose the best:
    ____________________________________________________________
    ____________________________________________________________

On the basis of these ideas  articulate the contradictions.

If                  _______________________________________________________
Then  (+)   _______________________________________________________
But (–)      ____________________________________________________________

Find the opposite properties:

_______________  should be ____________, in order to __________
                       and should be ____________, in order to __________.
Articulate the ideal solution:
__________________________________________________________
Which resources are there for the solution of this problem?
__________________________________________________________
Solution:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________


5.  Psycho-technical and developing games

     In ”Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade” there are games on self-regulation, on developing memory and attention, etc.

7.  Sum up

Homework.

One of Robinson’s problems  (“Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade).



Workbook
Lesson 2

1.  Warm-up

(Card index to the CID lesson for the third grade).
2.  Homework
Considering the homework problem.
4.  Main topic

     Contradictions emerge not only in the technical systems.  Problems and conflicts emerging between people.  We can try to solve problems and conflicts, arising between people, by using the methods and rules, already known to us – ideality, maximum use of resources, making things upside down, speeding up - slowing down, and others.  The problems, arising during interaction between people, are called in TRIZ inter-personal.  Today we’ll consider the fairy problem.  The main characters of this conflict are fairy tale characters, but I am sure, you will be able to remember certain people, whose behavior reminds us of the characters of this problem.
 

Problem 2.  "About Kolobok" (Small round loaf)

     This is the Kolobok that was baked with such effort by an old woman who was sitting at the window and looking through the book “Russian Folk Tales”.  Kolobok didn’t go to school, and therefore he couldn’t read the book.  However, he remembered very well those whom he was going to meet to on a forest path.  All the animals seemed very nice to him.  Only one of them – red and fluffy – had very cunning eyes and his teeth were shining.  Kolobok realized that the main danger for him was coming from this particular animal and decided to get ready for this meeting.  How can Kolobok save himself from the cunning Fox?


     The first possible solution: to feed the Fox in advance so that he would not be hungry.

Contradiction:
If                  Kolobok sits on the Fox’s nose,
Then (+)     the Fox will hear the song,
But (–)         can eat Kolobok.
     To sing in a microphone very loudly, so that the whole forest could hear (additional (+) other animals will hear and won’t let Kolobok get into trouble.)
 
If                to fight with the Fox,
Then (+)    it is possible to defend oneself,
But (–)       Kolobok is weak.
IFR (Ideal Final Result):
        The Fox refuses to eat Kolobok by himself.

Contradiction:
Kolobok must jump on the Fox’s nose in order to let the Fox hear his song,
and Kolobok  must not jump on the Fox’s nose, in order not to be eaten by the Fox.

Kolobok must be delicious, so that the old man and the old woman liked him,
and he mustn’t be delicious, not to be tasteful for the Fox.

This is Kolobok with lemon.

Resources:
   Kolobok, the song, the Fox’s taste.

Methods of solving contradictions:
In time:     “Let’s buy some sour cream at first, with the sour cream it is more delicious”.
In space:   but not in the forest
System – subsystem:    a part of Kolobok is delicious, another part is undelicious.
System – supersystem:   Kolobok + pepper, nails and others.
System – antisystem:      Kolobok voluntarily jumps on the Fox’s nose, taking with him an iron circle.

    In “Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade” there is a selection of the problems from various fields of knowledge.

5.  Psycho-technical and developing games

     In “Card index to the CID lessons for the third grade” there are games on self-regulation, on developing of memory and attention, etc.

7.  Sum up

     Every day we face contradictions and solve them somehow.  Good, nice, strong solutions emerge when a contradiction is solved with the maximum use of resources of the system where this problem appeared, and with minimum changing of this system.  This means the solution is close to ideality (you remember, it removes "–" by itself while preserving "+").  Every time solving a contradiction, we make a small discovery, devising a new invention.

Homework.
     Watch the people surrounding you and try to articulate inter-personal problems.  Write them down on the cards in the end of your workbook.
 
 
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Last updated on Dec. 17, 2001.     Access point:  Editor: nakagawa@utc.osaka-gu.ac.jp