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Criterion
Paper illustration for TRIZ
Innovation
TRIZ
Paper illustration for Contradiction Analysis.
Innovation
Contradiction Analysis
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for Kepner-Tregoe
Operations
Kepner-Tregoe
Purposedifferent
For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles.When a system should improve while another measure suffers as a result, the method makes the underlying conflict precisely formulable. It separates the desired effect from its side effect. This makes solutions possible that address the contradiction deliberately instead of half-heartedly.Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it.For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
1-4 h60-120 min45-90 min2-8 h
Participantssame
2-82-82-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution ConceptsContradiction Statement, Abstraction Notes, Solution Principles, Concept IdeasAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanProblem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan
Tagsno overlap
InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity
ContradictionsInnovationProblem solving
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations
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