40 Inventive Principles
Updated 2026-08-09
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Altshuller analysed a large body of patents and abstracted 40 inventive principles that recur across domains, among them segmentation, extraction, local quality, asymmetry, merging, and composite materials. When a technical contradiction appears, the solver consults the contradiction matrix, which recommends a small set of principles likely to apply, and then adapts those principles to the specific field. The library means innovation need not start from nothing, since prior solutions are available as structured inspiration.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Use contradiction framing: abstract the problem into a technical contradiction before searching for ideas. - Use matrix lookup: read the small set of principles the contradiction matrix recommends for it. - Use field translation: adapt the recommended principle concretely into your own technical domain today.
Anchor fast decisions
Altshuller abstracted 40 cross-domain inventive principles from a large patent corpus. Facing a technical contradiction, the solver consults the contradiction matrix, which recommends a few likely principles, and translates them into the specific field. Innovation thus builds on prior solutions rather than starting from nothing each time.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZverified
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