Title: THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING
1INNOVATION-TRIZ,INC.
- THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING
- World Future Society
- July 19, 2003
- Jack Hipple, Principal
- Innovation-TRIZ, Inc.
- www.innovation-triz.com
2OVERVIEW AND TOPICS
- Brief history of organizational problem solving
- Whats changed?
- Whats different?
- New tools
- Old tools used in new ways
- The future and recommendations
3THE HISTORY OF ORGANIZATIONALPROBLEM SOLVING
TOOLS
- Thomas Edison (early 1900s)
- Mass trial and error
- Osbourne and Parnes (1940s, 50s)
- Creative problem solving/brainstorming
- Myers and Briggs (1950s)
- Styles of approaching problems and people
- Michael Kirton/KAI (1960s)
- Styles of problem solving can be measured
- TRIZ (1950s/Russia, 1990s US and West)
- Knowledge management/patent mapping
4RECENT ORGANIZATIONALATTEMPTS AT INNOVATION
- Early 1980s to 1997
- Do different things, focused on RD function
- Joint with acquisitions and ventures
- Study of these programs published and presented
in the 2000-2002 time frame - 1995-2002
- The arrival of quality, Six Sigma, statistical
analysis, minimization of cost - 2000-Present
- Low cost alone is not enough
- Innovation is important again
- Have we learned anything?
- Many of the presentations are like 20 year old
reruns!
5WHATS CHANGED?OVERRIDING ISSUES
- Globalization of businesses and markets
- Cross cultural teams and enterprises
- Alliances of many different sorts
- Acquisitions
- Mergers
- Joint ventures
- Temporary alliances and ventures
- Temporary employees as well as alliances and
venturesloyalty is not there anymore
6WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? WHATS DIFFERENT?
- Learned
- Breakthrough problem solving and innovation is
not the sole responsibility of the research
organization - Customer input
- Technology licensing and venturing
- Different
- Cultural and business issues just discussed
- Recognition of the need for knowledge
managementcost of wheel reinvention is
exhorbitant - In part driven by lack of long term personnel
commitments
7OLD TOOLS USED PROACTIVLEY IN NEW WAYS
- MBTI/related tools
- Used typically only for personal growth and
development of individuals - Not normally used proactively in the innovation
and problem solving arenas - Some concerns are legitimate
- Example Different perspectives on the future of
health care - Doctors/nurses/patients/insurers/government/
- AARP
8USING MBTI PROACTIVELY
- Insuring total involvement (E/I)
- Impact vs. possibilities (S/iN)
- Data and economics as well as human impact (T/F)
- Closure and additional thought (J/P)
9OLD TOOLS USED PROACTIVLEY IN NEW WAYS
- Kirton KAI/Buffalo BCPI
- Measures problem solving styles
(adaptive/innovative) - Not normally used proactively in the innovation
and problem solving arenas - Some concerns are legitimate
- Example breakthrough vs. incremental
Kirton KAI is a registered trademark of M.J.
Kirton, BCPI is a registered trademark of Gerard
Puccio
10USING PROACTIVLEY
- Three subscales
- Originality
- Long term vs. short term
- Rule and group conformity
- Importance of consensus
- Efficiency
- Manner of problem solving
11- PLANNING, FUTURE FORECASTING, AND PROBLEM SOLVING
WITHOUT THESE TOOLS IS LESS THAN COMPLETE AND
NON-OPTIMUM
12NEW TOOLS
- TRIZ
- Patent and knowledge mapping software
13I HAVE TO REMOVE CORES FROM A MILLION GREEN
PEPPERS.
INNOVATION-TRIZ,INC.
14PATTERNS OF INVENTION
Processing Sweet Peppers
15WHAT IS THE INVENTIVE PRINCIPLE (OPERATOR) ?
- Slowly raise pressure and suddenly reduce it
- A path to a solution
- An approach to solving a problem
- A direction towards an answer
16PATTERNS OF INVENTION
- Removing stems from bell peppers
- Removing shells form sunflower seeds
- Cleaning filters
- Unpacking parts wrapped in protective paper
- Splitting diamonds along micro-cracks
- (27 years after pepper patent)
- Producing sugar powder from sugar crystals
- Explosive depulping
17- HOW WOULD THINGS BE DIFFERENT IF INDUSTRIAL
DIAMOND GRINDING TECHNOLOLGY HAD BEEN AVAILABLE
27 YEARS EALIER?
18(No Transcript)
19- THE CAVIAR EGGS AND BALL BEARING STORY
20 21I not only use all the brains I have, but all I
can borrow
22LESSONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
- Always look in parallel universes
- Never assume your problem is unique because it
probably isnt - Dont talk to just your customerswho might put
them out of business?
23COMMENT ON PARTNERSHIPSAND JOINT VENTURES
- Frequently based on a joint commercial approach
to solving a unique problem - At recent IRI/PDMA meeting on joint ventures
- What assessments are done prior to entering a
working partnership? - 4 answers Nothing
- 1 answer Take my fellow VP to lunch and see if
we get along - Organizational culture can be measured and openly
discussed
24KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
- Large sums of money generating it
- Low sums of money to collect it in a retrievable
fashion - New software tools from many companies
- Storage and retrieval
- Searching and retrieval
- Some based on the TRIZ generic principles
- Patent mapping
25KEYS TO SUCCESS
- For data to be retrieved, it must be entered
- Willingness to admit that it might have already
been done - Six months in the lab will save at least an hour
in the library
26THE FUTURE.A CHECKLIST
- Proactive measurement and use of
- Cultural and individual differences
- Within organizational teams
- Within joint ventures and collaborations
- Knowledge of parallel universes
- Past knowledge
- Ability to capture new knowledge