The Economics of Innovation

Michael S. Slocum

You know from the field of psychology that behavior is a function of values, so an organization has to value innovation if it is to consistently engage in innovative behaviors. But what if your organization doesn’t value innovation … Read More

Innovation From a Six Sigma View

Katie Barry

Over at the iSixSigma Blogosphere, blogger Robin Barnwell recently wrote about innovation.

Robin states that “innovation is a very personal endeavour rather than a group endeavour. What I have seen a number of times is innovation happening like a … Read More

Predictable Futures: Using Patterns of System Evolution

James Todhunter

Recently, a colleague asked me if the Patterns of System Evolution from TRIZ could be used by non-TRIZ practitioners.  At first the question struck me as being rather odd; it seemed sort of like asking if a map could … Read More

The People Side of Innovation

Jack Hipple

Comments at meetings by senior executives such as “now that the cutbacks are over, we can get on with innovation” really concern me. Research and Technology magazine’s recent annual surveys show innovation as a #1 issue, but five years … Read More

Growing Tomatoes in the Desert

Cass Pursell

In late June, the Committee for Economic Development issued the latest in a series of reports by business think tanks illustrating a growing change in the way American business is thinking about value. “Built to Last: Focusing Corporations on … Read More

About Commentator: Jack Hipple

Jack Hipple

Jack is principal, Innovation-TRIZ Associates, which provides training and consulting in breakthrough problem solving and organizational innovation. He is a chemical engineering graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with 30 years of industrial experience with Dow Chemical, Ansell Edmont and … Read More

The Innovation Constraint

Michael S. Slocum

Innovation has been practiced in an unintentional and non-focused manner for far too long. The focus on providing structure to a business was placed on other areas of interest. Various focal points have been targeted with great success … Read More

The Importance of Good Innovation Habits

James Todhunter

Over on the Innovate On Purpose blog, Jeffrey Phillips talks about making ideation productive.  He makes three key points.

First, enterprises should take on a proactive approach to innovation.  This is undeniably true.  The practice of waiting for the … Read More

Innovation at Ford – A Micro-Case Study

Cass Pursell

It’s instructive to take a few minutes every now and then to look back and remind ourselves of what fueled the growth of some of the greatest businesses of the last century. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked … Read More

Least Innovative Companies

Praveen Gupta

To solve a problem sometimes we look into successes and failures, do the component search and look for the root cause. While analyzing the Most Innovative Companies of BusinessWeek 2007 a thought came about looking into Least Innovative Companies. … Read More

Process for Innovation Conference

Katie Barry

Taking place August 21-22 in Chicago, the Process for Innovation conference will include global innovation leaders and practitioners. Companies including Unilever, Motorola, DaimlerChrysler and Procter & Gamble will be represented with sessions including “What Is Innovation? Develop A Clear … Read More

Most Innovative Companies

Praveen Gupta

Innovation is looking more and more like a ‘funny’ thing to do, instead of experiencing Eureka moments. Hearing someone’s new idea leads to the feeling of ‘WOW” that is funny! Innovation itself is appearing to be funnier because we … Read More

Think Innovation Is A Numbers Game? Think Again; Change The Rules.

James Todhunter

Here are a few common statements that signal serious problems in a company’s innovation program.

“We have all the ideas we need.”

“We just need to fill the pipeline with more ideas.”

“Open innovation is the answer to all … Read More

Alternatives for Sequences of Migration in Services

When deploying new service centers (where management, control and billing of systems occur), it is common to develop a sequence of migration and implantation of services, especially for 24/7-services that require a minimum service level to be maintained.Read More

Effectively Using the Contradiction Matrix

Trying to solve problems with help of the matrix can be useful – matching real system parameters to the matrix’s parameters enables a problem solver to get deeper into the problem and understand it better.Read More

Student Corner: the Principle of Nesting

When Russian nesting dolls became popular, they attracted the attention of inventors and engineers. As a result, all over the world patents based on the "nesting" principle were created.Read More

Welcome to the July 2007 Issue of The TRIZ Journal!

It’s hard to believe, but it has been six months since we re-launched The TRIZ Journal! We’re pleased to not only have expanded our list of contributing authors but to have welcomed back authors who helped make our first 10 years a remarkable success.Read More

Differentiating Among the Five Levels of Solutions

This paper concerns one of the key elements of TRIZ – widely known as the "five levels of inventions." This classification, and especially its numerous interpretations, often lead to confusion. What do these five levels represent, exactly?Read More

About Commentator: James Todhunter

James TodhunterJames Todhunter works on the front line of innovation and has over 30 years of experience in software technology and management. Jim is a seasoned innovator and inventor. Today, in his role as Chief Technology Officer for Invention Machine … Read More