Commentary by Katie Barry

How good is the new Droid phone? I can't tell you that - but I CAN tell you that the premise of an ad I found displaying on CNN.com tonight has me intrigued.

The ad (shown in the static screen grab here) states plainly "Compromise Deactivated." Being on the search for a new cell phone (no decision yet), I've had trouble making a decision based on the compromise factor.

I've dropped my current phone a few times. So much so that I've to using masking tape to keep the battery attached to the phone. Clearly, battery use is important! But it seems like if a battery is reliable, I'm giving up something else - perhaps the smaller size I prefer. Or the price skyrockets. Or it has more functionality than I need/want.

But if I look for a phone that has the functionality I want (easier texting than my Razr provides), good network coverage, bells & whistles not needed (email, videos, etc. are more than I desire to carry with me at all times), then the low battery time is a major complaint within reader reviews.

I don't know if the Droid will be the phone for me, but the idea of no compromises (a fundamental principle of TRIZ - eliminate the contradictions/compromises - in order to develop the innovative solution) has me intrigued enough to continue my research. Maybe even if some of those unneeded features are there, the lack of compromises on the rest of what's important to me will be right up my alley.

The next time you're confronted with a compromise, think about what you can do to eliminate the contradiction entirely - you might be surprised by the ideas that present themselves.

This weekend Real Innovation turned three! It's been a fun, busy, challenging and exciting three years - and I expect nothing less in the next three years.

We've got some new authors joining the Real Innovation family of contributors in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

And to everyone who has contributed to these first three wonderful years - please accept my deepest thanks. The authors, commentators and forum participants each contribute to making this THE online source for systematic innovation methods and tools.

Happy birthday RI!

On Tuesday, November 3rd, Ellen Domb will be a guest on Steve Wilson's Quality Conversations on BlogTalkRadio. Click and listen at 11 a.m. PT to a discussion on "TRIZ Techniques and Their Practical Application."

Ellen is an expert on the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ - an innovation methodology), founding editor of The TRIZ Journal and a frequent author/commentator on Real Innovation and The TRIZ Journal.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept 30), Ellen Domb, founding editor of The TRIZ Journal, will be on Steve Wilson's show Quality Conversations, hosted by BlogTalkRadio.

Steve has interviewed a plethora of quality professionals in the past. Guest apperances include Tom Kubiak, Forrest Breyfogle, Mark Graban, and from Real Innovation's sister site, iSixSigma, Jessica Harper and Michael Marx.

Below is the promo introducing the show. Check it out tomorrow 8:30 a.m. Pacific.

"Standard quality improvement methodologies such as DMAIC and PDSA have always incorporated brainstorming as a key method for finding creative solutions to problems. Brainstorming is designed to liberate a team's thinking from past patterns and and uncover ideas that people might have unconsciously suppressed. When it works it's great. But what happens when it does not work...if the solution lies outside the experience of the team? Ellen Domb, long time expert on the subject of TRIZ and founder of The TRIZ Journal joins us today to talk about the need for the use of TRIZ in Six Sigma."

Phil McKinney, the chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard's personal systems group, may not be familiar with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) - an innovation methodology - but he is talking about a key TRIZ tool in a new interview: the ideal final result.

The article quotes McKinney as saying: "Devices today are always some kind of a compromised device--never...perfect. I want a big screen, but it weighs too much. I want 50 hours of battery life, but I can't pick up the battery. Ultimately, it's how do you build a device that requires the user not to have to make any compromise."

Begin the innovation process by determining the ideal outcome - the best possible of all scenarios. Starting from a position of compromise and concession immediately restricts the creativity and overall potential for new product, process or service development.

Instead, work backward from the ideal. Consider what it will take. And when you run into contradictions along the way - solve them using the inventive principles of TRIZ.

At the end of January I had the opportunity to see creativity and innovation expert Sir Ken Robinson speak in Seattle. His new book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, talks about how adults (in his experience) don't know what their talents are - they don't know their "element."

Why is our element important? Three reasons:

1. Personal fulfillment
2. Health of our communities
3. Economic growth & development

Creativity is a process that our education systems can suck out of us as we're forced into a world of conformity and linearity. Education systems are based on "date of manufacture" – education is ruled by how old we are. The goal of these systems is to teach children to go to college and get jobs.

Sir Ken points out that we need to recognize that life is organic, it evolves - and we need to invest in our natural capacities that mimic the nature. Excellence is not standardization - it's about personalization and customization.

Note: If you haven't had the opportunity to see Sir Ken Robinson speak in person, check out this video from a TED presentation in 2006 on whether schools kill creativity. It's a well-spent 20 minutes (as I can safely state having just watched it yet again).

If Europe has a dedicated year of creativity and innovation, do other countries/regions need their own? -------------

There's been a lot of talk – particularly since the global recession became a reality – about whether or not government should be involved in innovation.

The European Parliament proclaimed the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 (EYCI) to focus "on the importance of creativity in private and public life." As nice as that sounds – and as well-intentioned as it likely is – what impact will this "year" have?

They do have a set of defined goals, but they are broad enough that quantifying success will be a challenge. Their ambassadors list is impressive - I hope to find out more about their role (the role of leadership is innovation is critical) and report back here at a later date.

Updated 2/11: BusinessWeek has a new article, "Obama Needs a Secretary of Innovation," – that explores the benefit of having someone in charge of 2 tasks: "The first is to lead a systematic national innovation process, bringing this powerful strategy to bear on the government's role in unclenching the lockjaw of this economic crisis. The second is to create a national innovation mindset, reinvigorating innovation in the private sector." Any discussion of innovation and process makes me happy, but is this a good beginning to making America "innovative"?

Reader Questions: If Europe has a dedicated year of creativity and innovation, do other countries/regions need their own? Are there lessons from the EYCI's initial planning that could be improved upon already? How will you judge their success?

Last week I was in Miami for iSixSigma Live! Summit & Awards. (iSixSigma is a sister publication to Real Innovation.) Innovation made its way into the agenda in a few places. (Readers of Real Innovation and The TRIZ Journal are familiar with TRIZ expert Ellen Domb who joined us for two days – talking about TRIZ in a breakout session and a workshop on the final day.)

Innovation was also a topic for the first day's general session – David Silverstein, President and CEO, Breakthrough Management Group International – spoke about "Six Sigma and Innovation: A Distinction Without a Difference."

A few key points from his presentation include:

• "Innovation is about information and data."
• "Innovation is about connecting the dots."
• "Innovation doesn't happen without collaboration."

He also discussed the principle of separation in time. (It's something most of us have probably used to solve problems without knowing "it" had a name!) Separation in time can be explained by the following: you're working on a problem, you get stuck, you go to a colleague's office, you explain your problem and you come up with the idea during the explanation.

The collaboration was with yourself – you could have been in anyone's office, whomever was there listening was irrelevant to the solution. The solution came about because you had to re-process and re-state the problem at another time.

If only every problem could be solved so easily...

The Mexican TRIZ Association (AMETRIZ) is hosting a blog for ideas to solve the global economic crisis: http://blog.ametriz.com/.

Put that TRIZ (and other innovation methods and tools) experience to good use and submit your ideas. (And share them here, too!)

Booz & Company announced its new Global Innovation 1000 report today –"Beyond Borders." The report focuses on R&D expenses across the globe as a key innovation indicator. Their top 10 companies include: Toyota, General Motors, Pfizer, Nokia, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, Microsoft, Roche Holding, Samsung and GlaxoSmithKline. A few interesting findings:

• "Fully 91 percent of the world's 1,000 largest R&D spenders conduct innovation activities outside the countries in which they are headquartered."
• "Even as the companies based in the U.S. performed $80.1 billion worth of R&D in other countries, companies headquartered elsewhere poured $42.6 billion into R&D conducted in the U.S."
• Three industries make up 70 percent of the R&D - automotive, computing and electronics, and healthcare.

The report can be downloaded as a PDF here: http://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_think/reports_and_white_papers/ic-display/42809114

What do you think? Do the results surprise you? Are those the companies that come to mind when thinking of innovation? Does R&D have a direct correlation to how innovative a company is? Is there too much outsourcing in innovation?

In 2009, Real Innovation's sister website, iSixSigma, will host its first annual Summit and Awards in Miami. Although there are some who debate whether innovation and process improvement can work together, we know that as successful as they can be on their own, combined they are unstoppable!

If your company also practices Six Sigma and systematic innovation, take the time to nominate a breakthrough innovation project for the Largest-Breakthrough Improvement Projects. Your project could be recognized at the awards breakfast AND highlighted in the March/April 2009 issue of iSixSigma Magazine.

My second day in Orlando was about as busy as the first so forgive me if I gloss over some of the details as I try to share as much as I can from my audience view.

The first two keynotes focused on architecture. "How Architecture Shapes the Way We Think: A New View of Collective Intelligence" was presented by Dr. Gunter Henn (Henn Architekten) and Tom Allen (MIT, Sloan School). They co-authored The Organization and Architecture of Innovation and shared some of their findings from their years of research. A main finding? Internal technical communication is needed to excel at innovation. "Eighty percent of all innovative ideas arise from face-to-face communication."

Henn and Allen explained that innovation can't be organized, but the innovation process can be. They broke down the idea further by saying that innovation happens with a synchronization between time and space. (The challenges of remote team problem solving was looked at in the June 2008 issue of The TRIZ Journal – take a look for more on this topic.)

Next up was Dr. Andrew Lippman from MIT's Media Lab on "Architectures for Innovation: The End of Products." Things are changing in that agility and relationships trump stability in today's global marketplace. Globalization isn't unimportant, but socialization is more important. It boils down to a "we" vs. "I" debate – the "solution" vs. the "problem." Once again, the importance of defining the problem comes into play!

This afternoon I headed back into the Guru track. First up, Jeffrey Phillips (VP, Innovation at OVO, also this track's chair AND a Real Innovation author) with Kim McEachron (VP, Human Resources at Medtronic) on "Innovation: A People Centric Process."

Who should be on an innovation team? Someone comfortable with ambiguity! They identified four primary roles:

1. Innovator or idea generator (involved in the first step)
2. Scouts or trend spotters (often spread out in companies, so they can be hard to take advantage of/synthesize)
3. Idea sponsor (usually a more senior employee – business owner or project manager)
4. Evaluators (often an ad hoc process with a broad array of people involved)

Along with those necessary team members, there are also five barriers to developing a successful innovation team:

1. Compensation
2. Evaluation
3. Training
4. Recognition/reward
5. Cultural barries

Along with that, another message repeated throughout this conference: fail! And fail early. Failure is not mistakes. "Mistakes produce no new or useful information and are without value." Failure, and learning from those failures, can lead to later successes.

The last session of this track was a shared presentation among three speakers: Frank Tyneski (Executive Director, Industrial Designers Society of America - IDSA), Lou Lenzi (SVP, Product Development, Audiovox Accessories Corporation) and Bruce Claxton (Motorola). They each talked about industrial design and its importance in the product development process. A favorite buzzword was "no compromise!" For those of you who have delved into TRIZ, you know that eliminating trade-offs/contradictions is an important tool of the methodology. Although TRIZ wasn't mentioned in the presentation, the importance of designing the ideal and not accepting compromises was clear.

All in all, it was an interesting two days of engaging speakers and conversations. Thanks for sharing the experience with me!

I'm in Orlando for a few days attending the Product Development and Management Association's 32nd Annual International Conference. It's been a busy and fun day; I'll try to sum it up here! I do have to say at the start that it's been great to talk to people who know what TRIZ is!

The first of the morning's keynotes was "From Passion to Reality: The Story of iRobot" by co-founder Helen Greiner. (Before she got into the business of her talk she satisfied the curiousity of the audience about her accent – a mix of London where she was born with Long Island and Boston thrown in for good measure!) One of iRobot's big lessons was to incorporate users into their product development; what users do is often a mystery and surprise until the developers/design see them using the products.

Next up was "The Next Generation of 'Fast:' Visual Problem-solving & Decision-making Using Oobeya, the 'Big Room'" by Takashi Tanaka (QV System, Inc.) and Don Kieffer (formerly of Harley-Davidson). Oobeya means "big room" in Japanese and is one small piece of the Toyota Management System.

The big room is all about human interaction and finding clear targets (even if they are unreasonable or unachievable) and accountabilities. Not for the first time today, the importance of finding/defining the root problem was raised. If the targets aren't correct, the execution will not matter.

Focus on a quick and clear resolution of conflicts in an open and collaborative way. Picture a wall covered in Post-its (I have photos, but forget the cord to connect my camera to the laptop so pictures will follow later!) and using them to specify the progress/problems/make decisions.

This afternoon I sat in on the "Inside the Guru's Studio" track. First up? Matt Calman, SVP and innovation executive from Bank of America with "Inside Bank of America's Global Tech & Ops Innovation Lab." The lab is a team of seven at this time: 3 concept developers, 2 prototype developers, a technical lead and a lab director. They are a mix of ages, education and experience levels; everybody does everything.

The innovation lab focuses on everything "from 'twinkle' to launch." They prototype (pure creativity), which leads to proof of concepts (a combination of prototyping with existing technology/systems). They use the prototyping to build requirements, not vice versa – another great way of being sure to identify the "right" problem. With a great deal of collaboration from discussion groups, voting systems and expert assessment they are able to progress to deciding to take an idea to market.

Next up was Adam Nash, Sr. Director, Product at LinkedIn.com with "Building a World Class Web 2.0 Product Organization." Their focus is how to make business people more productive. To do this, they use (many) small, cross-functional teams with the product managers as force multipliers who help define/set prioritizations for the business. Transparency is important in LinkedIn's processes as well with a corporate wiki - specifications are open and transparent to all. The roadmap is a public document that helps reinforce the message that it is okay to be wrong and make mistakes.

And, in another repeated message of the day, Nash touted the importance of framing the problem as it "defines the solution!" Going along with that, rather than focusing on ROI, they focus on making LinkedIn useful and engaging, "knowing" that ROI will follow.

The last of the Guru sessions this afternoon was Rob Wallace from Wallace Church, "Reinventing Innovation: The 10 Best Practices of the Design-led Innovation Process."

1. Sharpen the ax (see quote from Abraham Lincoln)
2. Craft the team
3. Fund the process
4. Own an experience
5. Visualize the experience
6. New research methods
7. Integrate the team
8. Implement
9. Synthesize
10. Re-invent
11. (Yes, this was a surprise at the end of his presentation!) Determine ROI

The evening's keynote was Bumper Carroll from The Second City, "Improvise to Innovate." Since The Second City is all about performance and interaction, it should be no surprise that his presentation had the audience interacting in several different ways. I didn't have much time to take notes, but overall his three points were:

1. Set the stage for everyday innovation
2. Invite customers to co-create
3. Killer ideas are rare; idea killers are a dime a dozen.

Whew! That was a busy day! More to follow tomorrow!

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is hosting its 32nd Annual International Conference September 15-17 in Orlando.

Why should you attend this event? Keynote speakers from companies including MIT, iRobot and IBM. Guru roundtables: small roundtable sessions with thought-leaders and practitioners; only 8-10 seats are available in each session. Six core content areas: strategy & planning; people, teams & culture; process, execution & metrics; intellectual property & technology; customer & market research; and co-development & alliances.

Download the brochure for full details.

Real Innovation readers save 20 percent off registration with code "MP081C"!

A blogger on our sister site, iSixSigma.com, wrote a post Innovation and Six Sigma last week. I think it's a post that applies to our innovation audience as much as it does to their Six Sigma readers.

Enjoy!

I don't get a lot of forwarded emails from friends and family; I've trained them to only send me the "best of the best." Today, one video appeared in my inbox that not only intrigued me, but seemed worthy of sharing with the Real Innovation/TRIZ Journal audience.

The video lasts about a minute and is safe for work. Click here to watch the "Awareness Test."

(Spoiler alert ahead – watch the video before reading!)

How many of you caught on? I admit that I didn't! I was carefully (and accurately, it turns out) counting passes as instructed. And I was so focused on the issue at hand, that the bear didn't grab my attention for a second.

This video ties in nicely with this week's featured Real Innovation article, Local Problems Lead to Ideal System Solutions. As important as problem solving is, and as many innovations local-level problem solving can provide, it can cause even more problems if the full system-scale is ignored. Every so often, remember to check out the big picture so that no moonwalking bears can interrupt the scene!

If you live near Seattle and would like to hobnob with the area's finest business process improvement practitioners in a casual after-work setting, attend the iSixSigma Live! Social and Networking Party at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue. (iSixSigma.com is a sister website to RealInnovation.com.)

Thursday, May 1, from 6 to 8 PM. Rock Bottom can only hold so many process improvement gurus so hurry and register today. The full details for the event can be found at: http://live.isixsigma.com/seattle.

The American Society for Quality's (ASQ) magazine, Quality Progress, January issue's cover story, "Conflict and Complexity," looks at the use of problem-solving techniques, including TRIZ, and how they could have been used to prevent the Challenger disaster.

You do have to register to have access to the article, but registration is free and it's a nice looks at the concrete usefulness of innovative methods and tools. For more about the use of TRIZ in space, read commentator Michael Slocum's posts:

• The International Space Station Meets TRIZ and
• TRIZ Meets Cassini

It's official – Real Innovation turns one today. Thank you for your interest/involvement in the site this past year. What's coming in 2008? More great articles, news, jobs, events, commentaries, discussions and some surprises! I hope that you'll continue to be connected to the site – whether as a visitor or in a more active role as an author, advertiser, commentator or forum participant.

For now, here are a few milestones we've hit in twelve short months:

• The site appears on the second page of Google search results (page one isn't far behind!)
• Site traffic and newsletter subscribers are growing by leaps and bounds each week
• The Google PageRank jumped from 0, to 4 and now sits at 6
• We added The TRIZ Journal (www.TRIZ-Journal.com) as a channel under Real Innovation and re-launched the site earlier this year
• Our regular slate of commentators now stands at 10
• Our stable of authors increases each month, as does the breadth and depth of our articles
• Our first annual survey proved that people are interested in learning the tools and methods for systematic innovation and they are finding the answers on Real Innovation

The Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies has announced a call for papers for the 10th anniversary of TRIZCON, its annual conference on the topic of TRIZ (The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving). The theme is TRIZ – Your Inspiration for Innovation.

Date: 13-15 April 2007
Location: Kent State University in Kent, Ohio

Keep reading to learn about paper submissions:

The emphasis on papers for this event should be REAL case studies with measured results and how TRIZ was used to develop the solution. We are strongly interested in providing content for corporate and educational users. Attendees are looking for concrete case studies – where TRIZ has been applied to provide REAL solution concepts. Papers on TRIZ in education and other traditional topics are suitable for the conference.

New opportunities for the application of innovative problem solving are constantly being posed by contradictions in all aspects of technology. Equally important is a growing awareness that we need to tap the unrecognized resource within systems as we improve design. As more practitioners, companies, and industries incorporate TRIZ into their design methodologies, the methodology itself will become more expansive and more refined. The Annual Conference on TRIZ Studies is an excellent forum to facilitate this growth and refinement. Presentations of either insight or case studies from technical and non-technical fields are welcome. Completed projects and applications, as well as those in progress, are candidates for presentation. Presentations that interest attendees include:

• New applications of TRIZ
• Advanced applications of TRIZ
• New developments in the TRIZ tool bag
• Approaches and techniques that can be used by teachers in the
  classroom
• TRIZ applications that can be taught to children and the elderly

Submission requirements: Interested parties are invited to submit an abstract (150 to 200 words) of their proposed paper with title, along with a brief, current biography of the author/s. Send submissions, including author's name(s), presenter's name, company, address, phone, fax and email address to:

The Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies, Inc.
100 Barber Avenue
Worcester, MA 01606 USA
Phone: 508-799-6700
Fax: 508-799-9944
Email: ai@triz.org

Completing requirements of the conference on time is critical for all
presenters, conference planners and attendees, so the following deadlines are
mandatory for your participation:

• Abstract submission deadline: November 15, 2007
• Acceptance notification with paper guidelines: If your Abstract is posted to the AI website, you are accepted
• All registration forms, copyright releases and fees ($250): January 15, 2008
• Final papers and electronic files due: March 1, 2008 – Late submissions may not make the agenda.

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