TRIZ Discoveries
From his research of patents, Altshuller defined an inventive problem, defined five levels of inventiveness, and made two major discoveries.
An Inventive Problem
Altshuller found that many patents were awarded for simple improvements that required only the new combination of known solutions in the field of engineering or manufacture. He called these level one inventions. A truely inventive problem is one in which there are no known solutions in the field and in which there is at least one contradiction and sometimes many contridictions. He went on to define two types of contradictions.
Contradictions
Inventors often find themselves faced with two important requirements and must make a trade off between them. Engineers spend much time finding the optimal balance in trade-off between two engineering parameters. For example: a trade-off must often be made between strength and weight--when the desirable result of increased strength also results in the undesirable result of increased weight. these trade-offs seem to be a part of life and the result is often an optimal compromise between the two requirements. (These trade-offs are often called technical contridictions.)
Inventors also often find themselves in situations where an important requirement is in direct conflict with itself. The required characteristic of the product must be both present and absent, or both large and small, or both wide and narrow, or both hot and cold, etc. These internally conflicting requirements can also lead to compromise or to a constant tug of war. Often in these cases the inventor attempts to offer "just the right" amount of the requirement. (This conflict is often called a physical contradiction.) The saying "I have one foot in a bucket of ice and the other foot in the fire, but on average my temperature is normal" describes this attempt at resolution of the conflict.
