Welcome to the January 2007 issue of The TRIZ Journal!

By Katie Barry, Ellen Domb and Michael S. Slocum

Happy 2007 to all TRIZ Journal readers!

We are happy to celebrate the new year by launching the re-designed TRIZ Journal website. Readers will enjoy continued access to each month's new issue as well as ten years of TRIZ-filled archives. You no longer need to download each new article – simply click on the article's link to begin reading.

New to the TRIZ Journal are more frequently updated TRIZ- and general systematic innovation-focused sections: news, events, jobs, discussion forum and commentaries. We hope that you will all consider becoming more active TRIZ enthusiasts and add to the promotion of systematic innovation methodologies and tools. A website is always a work in progress and we hope that you will share your comments and suggestions with us as the TRIZ Journal enters this new phase of publication.

January articles

This month we have a variety of articles that include two continued series, an article co-written by TRIZ Journal managing editor Ellen Domb, and much more.

• Ellen Domb along with Joe A. Miller share their experiences teaching TRIZ and their conclusions about how best to introduce TRIZ to beginners in Applying the Law of the Completeness of a Technological System to Formulate a Problem.
• The subject of Valery Kraev's fourth lesson of Kraev's Korner is resource analysis. Beyond his overview of the topic and examples, remember to look for the practical work and quiz that follow each of his lessons.
• The first Student Corner of 2007 by Dr. Abram Teplitsky describes the joy that can be found by turning a simple strip of paper into a Mobius strip.
• Holistic Value Framework by Karthikeyan Lakshminarayanan is an analysis of how to incorporate a variety of tools (including Little People and Lean) into a cohesive framework for problem-solving.
• Returning author, Gennady Retseptor, takes the 40 principles and fits them to the world of customer service with 40 Inventive Principles in Customer Satisfaction Enhancement.
• Gregory Frenklach uses initial problem defining, problem situation mapping, multi-level analysis of the chosen problem and multi-level change recommendations for problem-solving in the appropriately titled, Multi-level Problem-Solving.
• A New Paradigm for Creative Problem Solving: Six-Box Scheme in USIT by Toru Nakagawa demonstrates the use of the Six-Box Scheme as a new paradigm of creative problem solving.
• A Letter to the Editor clarifying a September 2006 article.

News

• Air Academy Associates has selected the TRIZ Journal's Managing Editor Michael S. Slocum, an internationally recognized expert in the fields of strategy and innovation, as Chief Innovation Officer and new principal in the company. With the addition of Dr. Slocum to its executive team, Air Academy expands its capability to deliver a customized and innovative competitive excellence strategy to the boardroom as well as to R&D and business units accountable for delivering results. Says Dr. Slocum, "I am honored to join such a prestigious organization. Air Academy Associates has demonstrated a client-first mentality for over fifteen years and I am excited about our future. The synergy associated with coupling Innovation with Lean Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma is fantastic and will assist our clients in achieving competitive excellence.”
• In addition to his article contribution this month, Toru Nakagawa also shares the news that the TRIZ Home Page in Japan has been updated and provides details of what new TRIZ information can be found on the site.

Remember!

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions, especially as you begin using our new website. We are always on the lookout for new and returning authors to share their experiences with TRIZ at all user levels and in both professional and personal categories. Until February, happy reading!

About the Authors:

Katie Barry is the editor of RealInnovation.com. Contact Katie Barry at editor (at) realinnovation.com or visit http://www.realinnovation.com.

Ellen Domb is the founder and principal TRIZ consultant of the PQR Group. She is also the founding editor of The TRIZ Journal and a commentator for Real Innovation. Contact Ellen Domb at ellendomb (at) trizpqrgroup.com or visit http://www.trizpqrgroup.com.

Michael S. Slocum, Ph.D., is the principal and chief executive officer of The Inventioneering Company. Contact Michael S. Slocum at michael (at) inventioneeringco.com or visit http://www.inventioneeringco.com.