SIT- Compelling Possibilities Systematically & Fast
Inventions like everything in nature exhibit patterns. Finding and leveraging the patterns of innovation is the thrust of TRIZ and related methodologies such as Structured Inventive Thinking (SIT). For a brief but meaningful introduction to SIT check out the LAB. It illustrates the method on everything from corporate training to drugs, office chairs and software.
SIT starts by deconstructing an existing artifact into its components. You then apply a pattern or innovation heuristic to a component to generate compelling possibilities fast and systematically. Example patterns include subtraction where you take a component away and work with what is left. Another is task unification where you assign a new function or task to an existing component. You can apply multiple patterns to one component to think divergently.
Image Source: Animated GIF of Kaleidoscope
