TRIZ Forum: IT & TRIZ


Japanese Translation Project of
Umakant Mishra's IT & TRIZ Book
English Text: "TRIZ Principles for Information Technology" (Draft edition) (TIC, 2007)
Preface to the Japanese Edition (T. Nakagawa)
Table of Contents (U. Mishra)
Introduction (U. Mishra)

Chapter 4. Asymmetry (U. Mishra)

Sample Edition in Japanese (displayed at Japan TRIZ Symposim 2008)

Masatoshi Hotta (SKI) and Toru Nakagawa (OGU)

[Posted: Mar. 9; Sept. 7, 2008] 

For going back to Japanese pages, press  buttons.

Editor's Note (Toru Nakagawa, Mar. 2, 2008)

This is the page for introducing you to the "Japanese Translation Project of Umakant Mishra's IT & TRIZ Book".  The original English text was published with the title of "TRIZ Principles for Information Technology" as a Draft edition by Technical Innovation Center, USA (2007).  Last year I posted a Web page for introducing this book to the people in Japan and in the world.  The page contains the articles as outlined below:     

Introduction to Umakant Mishra's
"TRIZ Principles for Information Technology"
(Draft version) (TIC, 2007) 
Toru Nakagawa, Aug. 18, 2007 - Jan. 29, 2008

(1) Introduction to the book: 
Excerpt of Nakagawa's 'Personal Report of TRIZCON2007' (Jul. 3, 2007).

(2) Contents of the book: 
Shown by outlines and examples of the book.
(Toru Nakagawa, Aug. 17, 2007)

(3) About the position and significance of this book
(Toru Nakagawa, Sept. 5, 2007)

(4) On the Japanese Translation Project
(Toru Nakagawa, Dec. 19, 2007)

Last December we started officially the project for translating and publishing (or getting published) the book in the Japanese language.  My Japanese page in this Web site has reported the progress of the Project so as to attract attention of Japanese readers. 

In this English page, I would like to report our progress in English in order to get your attention and interest not only in the book but also in the extension of TRIZ application in the IT and software fields.  For this purpose I am going to disclose some parts of Umakant Mishra's manuscripts in English, under the generous permissions by the Author and by the English Edition publisher, Technical Innovation Center.  We thank them for their permissions.

I am posting the followings in this page at moment.  Some others may be added later.

[1] Preface to the Japanese Edition  (Manuscript by Toru Nakagawa, Dec. 15, 2007 in Japanese ; Mar. 1, 2008 in English)

[2] Table of Contents    (Umakant Mishra) 
(Note that this serves as the list of 40 Inventing Principles (and sub-principles) for IT.)

[3] Introduction    (Umakant Mishra)

[4] Chapter 4.  Asymmetry  (Umakant Mishra)
(Shown here as a sample chapter.)

Editor's Note (Toru Nakagawa, Sept. 7, 2008)

Preliminary Sample Edition in Japanese will be displayed at Japan TRIZ Symposim, Sept. 10-12, 2008 at Biwako.

The project has completed the Japanese first draft of the whole book by the end of July 2008, and is working to revise it further in accordance to the Authors 'final revised version' provided in early Aug. 2008. 

The sample edition contains the followings:

Cover (designed by Kazuo Gotoh)
Preface to Japanese Edition (Toru Nakagawa)
TOC (and List of 40 Principles for IT)
Introduction

Chapter 1. Division   (Second Japanese draft)
Chapter 4. Asymmetry (ibid)
Chapter 15. Dynamize (ibid)
Chapter 17. Another Dimension (ibid)
Chapter 21. Skipping (Hurry) (ibid)

Author's profile, Japanese translation project team

The translation project is currently supported by Sozo Kaihatsu Initiative (SKI) and is looking for a publisher in IT and software field.

 

 

Top of this page Preface to the Japanee Edition 40 Principles for IT Intoduction Chapt. 4 Preliminary Sample edition (Sept., 2008) Mishra's Web site Japanese page (2) latest Japanese page

[1] Preface to the Japanese Edition (Manuscript, Toru Nakagawa)  

Umakant Mishra:
"A Collection of Problem Solving Ideas in IT and Software Technologies
-- Classified with TRIZ Inventive Principles --"

Preface to the Japanese Edition (Draft)

This book has a collection of a wide range of technical ideas which have been developed so far in the world of Information Technology (IT), from those highly innovative to those apparently incremental improvement. Such technical ideas have been classified and organized here so as to be ready for learning their essences. Once you study them to master the essence of ideas, you will certainly find yourself get assisted and empowered to improve the systems you are working on, to develop something new, and further to create your own ideas for innovation. Keep this book at hand and read it from time to time and from page to page, then you would realize that different new ideas are coming up with for solving your own problems.

The fields of ideas handled here contain not only hardware and software but also programming, data processing, storage and management, network and telecommunication, internet technology, project management, process and quality control, etc. etc. These fields are called IT/software in this Preface. In these fields, extremely severe development competitions are going on and promoting rapid advance in technologies, as you know.

However, the most parts of IT/software technologies belong not to the world of Physics (i.e. hardware) but to the world of Information (i.e. software). The world of Information is mostly based on the conventions made among humankind, in place of the natural laws for the world of Physics. Characters, languages, and internet technologies are examples of conventions. People try in different ways, and only the ways which are accepted and followed by many people are going to be used regularly as conventions. However, it is often not clear why some ways are good and others are not. Information science (or computer science) is trying to discover basic principles, and has revealed information theory, computational complexity, principle of information hiding, etc. But they are not sufficient for the guiding principle in real technology/system development. Hence various improvement and development in IT/software field are actually carried out without clear guidelines and just by following trial-and-errors, experiences, and popular trends in industries.

When a huge number of trials and their results are accumulated in a wide range of fields in the world, there is a way to extract some guiding principles from them. That is to survey them in a bottom-up manner, to classify and reorganize them, and to think of their essence. This is the method of induction, which has given birth to the whole system of science. There is a study, in particular, that surveyed a huge number of patents in the world to extract the essence of ideas of invention. Genrich Altshuller and his followers in the former USSR established TRIZ (the Russian acronym of 'Theory of Inventive Problem Solving'), which became known to the Western world since 1990s. Altshuller extracted '40 Inventive Principles' as the essence of ideas in the patents.

The present book had its initial trigger in the patent study by CREAX. The Belgium company CREAX organized an research institute in India and worked during 2000-2004 to analyze all the US patents granted since 1985 from the eyes of TRIZ. This extensive research project produced the textbook "Hands-On Systematic Innovation" written by Darrell Mann (its Japanese Edition published by Sozo Kaihatsu Initiative). In the CREAX project, the Author of the present book, Mr. Umakant Mishra, built and managed the analysis software tool and also performed the analysis of US patents in the field of IT/software. He reviewed all the IT/software patents, and recorded which Inventive Principles (and Trends of Evolution, etc.) in TRIZ have been used by individual good patents. Such extensive records were grouped with the Inventive Principles, rearranged with the similarity of the essence of utilized ideas, and annotated with brief explanations. Such a work has generated the present book.

When Altshuller systematized the 40 Inventive Principles during 1960s and early 70s, patents were mostly related with mechanics, electricity, chemistry, etc. and rarely with IT/software. It was found by the CREAX' patent analysis that the essence of ideas in the IT/software patents (and other references and know-hows in the field) were well interpretable with the set of 40 Inventive Principles with very minor adjustment. The 40 Inventive Principles in the present book are presented with minor adjustment for better fit to the IT/software fields. (For example, Principle (37) "Thermal Expansion" is now called as "Expansion", and Principle (38) "Stronger Oxidants" is named "Enhancement".)

You can find the charms of this book and their significance simply by reading any one of Chapters 1 through 40, even skipping the Introduction. Each Chapter has the name of an Inventive Principle, description of the Principle, benefits which can be expected with its application, and various situations appropriate for its application. And then a large number of examples of IT/software technologies are arranged in groups and are annotated on the essence of their ideas from the eyes of the TRIZ Principle. For the people working in the fields of IT/software, almost all the technologies and ideas listed in the book are quite familiar ones because of actual use or reading/hearing in various opportunities. If not specialists, most users who are interested in internet and PC may know large parts of the technologies and ideas in the examples. Such examples do not talk about technical details of implementation but discuss about the purposes and aims of them; thus the descriptions are easy to understand even for non-specialists. Such cases of individual technologies, sometimes apparently simple ideas for improvements, can be found well underpinned by Inventive Principles; this is the message of this book.

On reading this book some of the readers may think: "Here is a catalogue of IT/software technologies rearranged with some empirical principles. No new ideas here!" However, making a catalogue of such a wide range of technologies and classifying them in a systematic manner have been performed here for the first time by this book. Of course in the IT/software area there are many handbooks of technologies and many textbooks trying to construct underlying theories in individual specialty. But it is the new contribution of this book to catalogue such different technologies used in practice and classified them with the underpinning principles which are applicable across the fields.

Moreover, this book will be the first publication in the world on the subject related to TRIZ in the field of IT/software technologies. It has been just over 10 years since the introduction of TRIZ into Japan. In the conferences and Web sites specialized in TRIZ, there appear only recently some papers/articles on the topic of application of TRIZ to IT/software problems. In the conferences and journals in the IT/software fields, however, TRIZ has never been introduced yet. It should be our future work to prove that TRIZ is useful in the IT/software fields and to penetrate TRIZ into the fields.

Thus, if you understand, by reading this book, that the essence of almost all technologies in the IT/software fields can be described with the TRIZ Inventive Principles, then you have already made a big step forward in the cutting edge area. Having learned many examples of effective use of Inventive Principles and mastering the essence underlying such examples through this book, you have obtained a good basis for thinking on your own problems. Your next step is to use or apply the ways of thinking with Inventive Principles in the midst of your own work, e.g. problem solving and product development. This is the standard way of learning anything and using/applying it.

An easy way of using/applying the essence of ideas is to read this book once all through, in any order as you like, and to read the book from time to time and from page to page. With your problem in your mind and taking a look at the pages of this book, Inventive Principles and case studies would stimulate you much to come up with various new ideas. A list of Inventive Principles (just like the table of contents of this book) and cards of Principles may also be helpful.

When we go one more step further, we will meet the question: "Which processes should we take in solving the problems in IT/software fields by applying the ways of thinking with TRIZ Inventive Principles?" This question is still a research issue on which no clear guidelines are shown. For the purpose of problem solving in other technological fields, i.e. the fields in the world of Physics, the TRIZ methodology (and its simplified and unified version, USIT (Unified Structured Inventive Thinking)) has been well established. The methodology contains the methods of foreseeing the directions of future development/evolution of the technologies, the methods for solving contradictions, etc. This methodology is applicable more or less in the IT/software fields. The research issue is how to implement the TRIZ (or USIT) methodologies in the standard processes of newly developing and further improving IT/software products.

The original English manuscript of this book was published in a Draft Edition by Technical Innovation Center Inc., USA, for the purpose of reader reviews. Its original title is "TRIZ Principles for Information Technology". As you can see in the title and in the chapter of Introduction, the author supposes the principal readers of this book to be people who have learned TRIZ and want to extend TRIZ into IT/software fields. The present Japanese Edition, however, supposes the principal readers are the people in IT/software fields, who have never heard of or learned TRIZ before, as you see in the new book title and this preface. Reading this book, such people understand their familiar IT/software technologies rearranged in a new classification scheme and understand gradually the TRIZ Inventive Principles. Even though we have much shifted the expectation of the principal readers, we have found no need of changing the descriptions in the body of the text. Concerning to TRIZ, you will get help with the Introduction by the author and the annotated TRIZ references added at the end of the volume.

It has passed a year and half since I first read sample chapters of the English manuscripts. We have reached an official agreement with the author and started the Japanese translation project. Masatoshi Hotta, Sozo Kaihatsu Initiatives Co., Ltd., is the project manager while Toru Nakagawa, Osaka Gakuin University, is the supervising translator. The translation team includes Yoshihisa Konishi as a TRIZ specialist and Toru Shonai, Takuo Maeda, and Masahiko Soh as IT/software specialists. Though we have not assigned a publisher yet at moment, we wish to get the Japanese Edition published by the end of 2008. Please watch our progress and anticipate the publication!

                                                     December 15, 2007
                                                     Toru Nakagawa (Osaka Gakuin University)

                                                                                   [English translation on March 1, 2008. TN]

 

[2] Table of Contents   (Umakant Mishra)                  

[Note:  Table of Contents of the Book also serves as the table of Inventive Principles for IT.  For the latter purpose, the keyword 'Chapter' is dropped in this table.  The Principles and the Sub-Principles are numbered in front of each line.]

 Table of Contents of
"TRIZ Principles for Information Technology"
by Umakant Mishra (Draft edition) (Technical Innovation Center, USA, Apr. 2007) 

INTRODUCTION        6

1. Segmentation         10

1.1 Divide a system or object into separate independent parts or sections    
1.2 Make a system easy to put together and take apart
1.3 Increase the degree of fragmentation or segmentation

2. Taking out          21

2.1 Take out an undesired part or function of the object
2.2 Take out the cause or carrier of an undesired property or function

3. Local Quality         30

3.1 Change the structure of an object or system or environment from uniform to non-uniform 
3.2 If an object or system has multiple functions, change specific parts of the object to achieve efficiency in the corresponding function.
3.3 If an object or system has multiple functions, change specific parts of the object or system to make suitable for specific local conditions. 

4. Asymmetry          41

4.1 If an object or system is symmetrical make it asymmetrical or introduce lines of asymmetries.
4.2 If an object is already asymmetrical, increase the degree of asymmetry
4.3 Change the shape of an object or system to suite external asymmetries

5. Merging          49

5.1. Merge in space- Physically join or merge identical or related objects or operations to work together in space.
5.2 Merge in time- Join or merge objects, operations or functions so that they act contiguously or parallel in time.
5.3. Merge both in space and time- Join or merge objects or functions to act together in both space and time.

6. Universality          59

6.1 Make a new object or system that performs multiple functions, thereby eliminating the need for multiple existing systems.

7. Nested Doll          67

7.1 Put one object or system inside another
7.2. Allow one object or system to pass through an appropriate hole in another
7.3. Increase the number of nesting, or Use a stacking or cascading arrangement

8. Counterweight         77

8.1 Where the weight of an object or system causes problems, combine it with something that provides lift
8.2 Where the weight of an object or system causes problems, make it interact with the environment to get lift

9. Prior Counteraction          85

9.1 Where the action causes stresses or harmful effects, introduce anti-actions and beforehand stresses to control the harmful effects.

10. Prior Action          93

10.1. Perform a useful action (either fully or partly) before it is needed
10.2 Pre-arrange objects so that they can come into action at the most convenient time and place.

11. Cushioning          101

11.1 Introduce emergency backups to compensate for the potentially low reliability of an object

12. Equipotentiality          110

12.1 If an object or system needs to be lowered or raised, redesign the object’s environment to bring balance and compensate that need

13. Other Way Round         116

13.1 Use an opposite or inverse action to solve the problem
13.2 Make movable objects fixed, and fixed objects movable
13.3 Turn the object, system or process 'upside down'

14. Curvature          125

14.1 Turn linear parts to curved parts, flat surfaces to spherical surfaces.
14.2 Use rollers, balls, spirals and domes
14.3 Change linear motion to rotary motion

15. Dynamize          132

15.1 If an object or system is rigid or inflexible make it movable or flexible.
15.2 Split an object or system into parts those are capable of moving relative to each other.
15.3 Make an object or system to be adaptive (by changing its functionality) to achieve optimal performance under different operational conditions.

16. Partial or Excessive action         141

16.1 If it is not possible to do the precise action or achieve the precise result, try to achieve ‘slightly less’ or ‘slightly more’ of the action or result.
16.2 If an action is crucial and partial action may lead to problems, better do more or excessive
16.3 If an action is difficult or expensive, and can be easily done in future, better do it less or partial.

17. Another Dimension          151

17.1 If an object moves in a straight line or plane, consider moving outside the line or plane.
17.2 Use “another side” of a given object or system
17.3 Use 'another orientation’ or ‘layout’ of a given object or system
17.4 Use another Method

18. Vibratation          162

18.1 Cause an object to oscillate or vibrate
18.2 Increase or change the frequency of vibration
18.3 Make use of an object or system's resonant frequency

19. Periodic Action          168

19.1 Replace continuous actions with periodic or pulsating actions
19.2 If an action is already periodic, change the frequency to suite external conditions
19.3 Use gaps between actions to perform other useful actions

20. Continuity of Useful Action         175

20.1 Make all parts of an object or system work continuously with full efficiency

21. Skipping (Hurry)          179

21.1 Conduct an action at very high speed to eliminate harmful side effects.
21.2 Skip unwanted steps to gain speed

22. Blessings in Disguise          187

22.1 Use harmful objects or actions to deliver positive effect

23. Feedback          191

23.1 Introduce feedback to improve a process or action
23.2 If feedback is already used, make it adaptable to variations in operating conditions

24. Intermediary          200

24.1 Introduce an intermediary between two objects, systems or actions
24.2 Introduce a temporary intermediary that disappears (or can be easily removed) after it has completed its function

25. Self Service          209

25.1 Enable an object or system to serve itself by performing installation, configuration, repair, maintenance and all other operations
25.2 Make use of waste materials or unused resources

26. Copying          219

26.1 Use simple and inexpensive copies in place of unavailable, expensive, complicated, dangerous or possibly vulnerable objects and systems
26.2 Replace an object, or action with an optical copy, infrared or ultraviolet copies.
26.3 Use virtual copies or simulations of an object or system or function.

27. Cheap and Disposable         227

27.1 Replace an expensive object or system with a multitude of inexpensive, short-living objects

28. Mechanics Substitution         233

28.1 Replace a mechanical means with a sensory (optical, acoustic, taste, touch or smell) or other (magnetic, electromagnetic, thermal etc.) means.
28.2 Change the internal mechanism, structure, format or code

29. Pneumatics and Hydraulics          242

29.1 Use gases and liquids instead of solid parts or systems

30. Thin and Flexible          245

30.1 Incorporate flexible shells and thin films instead of solid structures.
30.2 Use flexible and thin films to isolate an object or system from its environment.

31. Hole          254

31.1 Make an object porous or add porous elements
31.2 If an object is already porous, add something useful into the pores

32. Color Change         261

32.1 Change the color of an object, its part or its external environment, which can change the visibility of the object
32.2 Change the transparency of an object or its surroundings

33. Homogeneity (Compatibility)         268

33.1 Make interacting objects of the same material (or material with matching properties)

34. Discard and Recover          274

34.1 Discard the elements of an object or system which have fulfilled their functions
34.2 Restore the exhausted or consumable parts of an object or system during operation

35. Parameter Change          280

35.1 Change parameters of an Object or System

36. Conversion and Migration         289

36.1 Convert the old incompatible data, file, format or technology to a new compatible data, file, format or technology.
36.2 Migrate from old incompatible data, format or technology to compatible data, format or technology.

37. Expansion          295

37.1 Use expansion (or compression) of an object or component to achieve useful effect

38. Enrich/ Improve Quality         300

38.1 Replace an object or system with an updated or advanced object or system
38.2 Add features or functions to improve an object or system

39. Calm (Inert Atmosphere)          306

39.1 Replace a normal environment with an inert one
39.2 Add neutral parts, or inert elements to an object or system

40. Composite          311

40.1 Use composite (multiple) materials instead of uniform ones.

INDEX of Terms          317
Annex-1 Relationship between Principles         341
Annex-2 List of Patents         344
Annex-3 Table of Case Studies          350
Annex-4 Glossary of TRIZ terms          356

 

[3] Introduction   (Umakant Mishra)       

"TRIZ Principles for Information Technology"
by Umakant Mishra (Draft edition) (Technical Innovation Center, USA, Apr. 2007) 

 

INTRODUCTION

History of TRIZ

Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) was originally developed by Genrich S. Altshuller, the Russian patent scientist and great inventor. Altshuller screened hundreds of thousands of patents and found that most of the problems have been solved again and again at different times in different contexts. He analyzed the pattern of solution and found that all inventions emerge from the application of only 40 Inventive Principles. He also found that the technology trends are highly predictable. He saw that applying these principles, strategies and trends could solve any inventive problem. He invented a set of tools and techniques, which are known as Teoriya Resheniya Izobretattelskikh Zadach (TRIZ) or Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.

The TRIZ approach

TRIZ involves a systematic approach to solve any problem through defining the problem to applying a solution. The method of problem solving is clearly elaborated in ARIZ (Algorithm of Inventive Problem Solving). Broadly the TRIZ approach of problem solving includes the following steps.

1. Restructuring the Original Problem: The first step of solving a problem is to define the problem. (In many cases the, the problem is found to be solved during this step itself without needing to go further, as the so-called problem cease to appear as a problem any more.) The system is analyzed to find out the functions, resources and conflicts. . The problem is explained in very clear terms.

The next part of this step is to visualize the Ideal Final Result (IFR) or Ideal Final Goal. (In many cases an ideal result may not be achievable, but formulation of IFR helps thinking solutions in the right direction.) What are the conflicts or contradictions in the system that prohibits achieving the IFR.

2. Solving the contradictions: The second step is to eliminate the contradictions. One may use contradiction matrix and Inventive Principles to solve the contradictions. This step involves finding alternative solutions by using different TRIZ techniques like Standard solutions, Principles, Trends of Evolution and Knowledge sources like patent databases. TRIZ advises and recommends to use the knowledge and experience from world’s greatest inventions.

3. Analyzing the solutions: The next step is to weigh the solutions, discard the weaker solutions and select the stronger solutions. The strength is weighed considering space, time and environmental conditions. The stronger solutions are those, which solve the contradictions by themselves and turn the harmful elements to useful resources. The stronger solutions are those which makes use of the resources available inside the system instead of requiring external resources.

TRIZ Techniques and their Applications

There are several tools and techniques included in TRIZ. The five main TRIZ techniques are Inventive Principles, Contradictions, Ideality, Standard Solutions and Trends of Evolution. These five are found to be commonly accepted and followed by all TRIZ professionals. Besides there are other TRIZ tools and techniques such as Resources, Functional Analysis, Substance-Field Analysis, System Operator, ARIZ and others which are also quite powerful problem solving tools and used by some TRIZ practitioners. Different tools are used at different stages of problems solving process. Besides some tools are found to be more useful in specific types of problems.

Some techniques may be less frequently used or may be controversial among the TRIZ professionals, but still may be powerful in specific cases. We will not go into the details of each of the techniques, as it will be beyond the scope of this book. We will focus only on the Inventive Principles, which is considered to be the most fundamental technique of TRIZ.

The techniques of TRIZ were initially derived from and applied to the field of mechanical problems, but later found to be applicable in other fields of problems including space, electronics, chemical, financial, marketing, human resource, environmental and even problems in Information Technology. However, the interpretation and application of different TRIZ techniques may slightly vary according to the nature of domain. We will discuss only on the application in Information technology to remain within the scope of the book.

Inventive Principles

Applying Inventive Principles is one of the simplest but most powerful techniques in TRIZ. According to the findings of TRIZ, there are only 40 Inventive Principles, which have been applied in all inventions so far. Putting differently, the same forty Inventive Principles can be applied to solve any kind of inventive problems in future. This makes TRIZ tremendously powerful and an essential problem solving method.

Each principle is a unique approach to address a problem. Although some principles appear to overlap each other, that happens only in limited cases and that do not affect their usefulness thereby. It is not necessary that only one Principle can be applied to a situation, rather in many cases, a combination or set of principles are found to be applicable. For example, the sound of a barking dog is used (Principle(26):“Copying”) without a dog (Principle(2):“Taking out”) as a burglar’s alarm (Principle(9):“Prior Counteraction”).

TRIZ researchers have found the ever-growing applicability of Inventive Principle in different fields of studies, such as mechanical engineering, microbiology, chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, corporate management, software engineering and so on. Some researchers have published their research in articles and books, whereas a lot more are expected in near future.

Inventive Principles in IT

The research shows the forty principles of TRIZ are widely used in various fields of Information Technology. The author has analyzed more than one thousand IT patents and found the applicability of forty Inventive Principles in each case of invention.

The term IT, in the context of this book, should not be considered as only hardware or software. The term IT is to be considered in the broader sense of the term which includes Hardware, Software, Programming, Data processing, storage and management, Networking and Telecommunication, Internet Technologies, Project management, Process and Quality control etc.

Although the 40 Principles are fundamentally sound to be applied to any software problem, sometimes their explanations in the existing documents are not suitable in a software context. For example, there are some principles like “Phase Transition”, “Thermal Explanation”, “Strong Oxidizers” etc. which are found to be very confusing in a software context. Similarly, principles like “Parameter Change” although has a very clear applicability in software, the terms used to explain its applications such as “change physical state”, “change temperature” etc. are not relevant in software environment. This is because the “parameters” used in software context are different from the parameters used in physical objects. This book has taken care to represent some of these descriptions to make them meaningful in a software environment without changing the fundamentals concept behind the principle.

We will discuss the principles one by one with various examples and case studies illustrating where and how the principle has been applied. It is important to keep in mind that the actual implementation of a solution may vary from case to case and from time to time. For example, the Principle(1):“Segmentation” reminds us that the volume of work can be distributed to different people, the software can be divided into several modules, and the project can be divided into several phases. But it is ultimately up to us to decide on how many modules we divide the software and how many people we engage per module, although the Principles can also be applied further to arrive at exact solutions.

Some facts about Inventive Principles

The 40 Inventive Principles are not mutually exclusive. Some situations may appear to be an application of more than one Inventive Principle. In such cases, we should neither confuse on which Principle to apply nor debate on the definition of Principles, rather solve the problem. Applying Inventive Principles (like any other TRIZ technique) is just a means to the objective of solving a problem.

In many cases there are alternative names for the same principles, for example, “Principle-Extraction” is also called as “Principle-Taking out”, “Principle-Reversing” is also called “Principle-Other way round” and so on. These differences in the “Proper Names” should just be seen as translation problems from Russian to English and should not be interpreted otherwise.

All principles are not used with equal frequencies. There are some principles such as, Segmentation, Taking Out, Universality, Prior Action, Dynamize, Feedback, Intermediary, Copy, Parameter Change etc. which are used more often than others.

Inventive Principles are fundamentally sound to be applied in all different fields of study. However, as they were originally developed for mechanical or technical problems, the language of their explanations sometimes may not look relevant to situations in other fields. Those situations need re-explanations of the applications without changing the concept and logic behind the Principle.

Why this book

There are many good books on TRIZ, which attempt to explain the concepts and techniques of TRIZ, but very few of them are application oriented. Further in the field of Information Technology, there is hardly any serious research material that depicts the relevance and applicability of TRIZ and Inventive Principles in the field of Information Technology. This book will hopefully supplement that deficiency and guide future researchers and inventors as a predecessor.

Although there are existences of many documents explaining Inventive Principles they all explain the Principles in the language of Engineering and Technology. It is an objective of this book to review the existing explanations of the Inventive principles and modify them in the context of Information Technology without changing the concept, structure and approach of the original 40 Principles developed by Generich Altshuller.

The book consists of a large number of applications and inventions for each Inventive Principles and intends to be an essential reference for every IT inventor, problem solver and solution developer. The book intends to be a valuable source of reference for “Software Principles” or “IT Principles”.

How is the book organized

The language of the book is kept very simple and colloquial to make it easy and interesting for the readers at any level, whether an experienced IT professional or a beginner enthusiast. The book contains thousands of examples from day to day IT operations. Some of them may look quite simple and obvious but still essentially included to illustrate the possible domain of application. A TRIZ critic will possibly challenge what is so great in these examples and techniques as we all know about it. He is absolutely right as we all apply the Inventive Principles in our everyday activities even without knowing about them.

The inventive principles are not very different from our knowledge and practice. In fact they are derived rather generalized or abstracted from our knowledge and practice. The idea is not to teach something new rather to remind about the existence and possibilities.

The book illustrates one hundred IT inventions (selected from US Patent database) and one hundred case studies from IT Industry, evenly distributed for each Inventive Principle. The purpose of citing patents is to show the clear applicability of the principles. All the patents are from US patent database only. Patents are randomly selected to broadly cover different fields and concepts without emphasizing any particular Assignee or business organization.

There is no recommended sequence of reading the chapters. Each chapter is independent and can be read at random. The index at the end is very exhaustive and can be referred to correlate principles against different IT solutions.

The book very specifically focuses only on Inventive Principles and does not include other techniques of TRIZ, such as Contradictions, Ideality or Trends. This does not indicate any weakness or irrelevance of other techniques rather leaves scope for future research and a separate work.

Whom is the book meant for

This book is intended for anybody who is interested on inventions and problem solving in the field of Information Technology. The language of the book is kept very simple for anybody to read and understand. The book consists of forty chapters, one for each principle. Each principle is explained with hundreds of examples and some case studies. The examples may appear easy or difficult according to the exposure of the reader in the field of IT.

I hope the book will be loved by thousands of TRIZ researchers around the world, TRIZ students and trainers, IT professionals at all levels, solution developers, decision makers, analysts and architects as they will find this extremely useful to solve their real life problems. This book will hopefully be an essential companion for the IT inventors and patent writers.

I like to mention that the book by itself cannot solve our problems. The problem is perceived and defined by a human being, and hence to be solved by a human being. The book will show us what are the techniques to solve the problem and how similar problems have been solved in the industry. The Inventive Principles help us looking at different aspects of a problem and help us looking at different solutions to the problem. Thus the book ultimately gives us the knowledge and capability of solving any IT problem.

                                                                                        Umakant Mishra
                                                                                        August 2006


[4]  Chapter 4.  Asymmetry  (Umakant Mishra)       

 

"TRIZ Principles for Information Technology"
by Umakant Mishra (Draft edition) (Technical Innovation Center, USA, Apr. 2007) 

Chaptr 4. Asymmtry   (PDF, 201 KB, 8 pages)   Click here

 

Top of this page Preface to the Japanee Edition 40 Principles for IT Intoduction Chapt. 4 Preliminary Sample edition (Sept., 2008) Mishra's Web site Japanese page

 

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Last updated on Sept. 7, 2008.     Access point:  Editor: nakagawa@utc.osaka-gu.ac.jp