Inventive Problem is one in which the solution causes another problem to appear. For example, increasing strength of a metal plate will cause its weight heavier. Normal problem solving methods can address these problems by compromising, but do not really solve the problem.

Inventive problem solving methods eliminate the desired problems and the resulting problems. They are typically useful to solve complex problems in technological and other area. TRIZ provides techniques for Inventive Problem Soving.

ARIZ is the Russian Acronym for "Algorithm of Inventive Problem Solving". ARIZ isthe process of defining a problem through problem defining algorithm. This is one of the TRIZ methods which is used to solve conflicts.

ARIZ includes a list of about 85 step-by-step procedures that analyses a complex problem to a simple stage, where it becomes easy to solve. It is thus a multi-step process, asking you a series of questions, using various techniques of TRIZ. The basic steps of ARIZ are:

I. Restructuring of the Original Problem

• Analysis of the system, which helps to define the basic function of the system and the root conflict that is worth solving.
• Analysis of the resources of the system includes analysis of the zone where the selected conflict happens, periods when it happens and objects and energy that system has.
• Define the Ideal Final Result and Formulate the Physical Contradiction

• Separate the Physical Contradiction-which includes application of one of six rules to separate conflicting requirements.
• Apply the Knowledge Base: Effects, Standards, and Principles
• Change the "Mini-Problem"

• Review the Solution and Analyze the Removal of the Physical Contradiction,
• Develop Maximum Usage of the Solution,
• Review All the Stages in ARIZ in "Real Time" Application.

Six Sigma stands for Six Standard Deviations. The Greek letter Sigma means Standard Deviation. Six Sigma is a quality control methodology based on quantitative methods. Six Sigma aims for minimization of defects. It allows only 3.4 defects per million cases. Six Sigma improves the process performance, decreases variation and maintains consistent quality of the process output. This leads to defect reduction and improvement in profits, product quality and customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma started in Motorola, in its manufacturing division, where millions of parts are made using the same process repeatedly. As Motorola was benefited by the method, other manufacturing companies also started adopting the method. Six Sigma is also applied to non-manufacturing processes, such as, medical and insurance procedures, call centers, supply chain management, project management etc.

Six Sigma uses DMAIC (Define opportunities, Measure performance, Analyze opportunity, Improve performance, Control performance) methodology to improve any business process. A new business process is designed by using DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) which ensures minimization of defects.

Lateral thinking is a creativity technique invented by Edward de Bono to solve various problems. He defines it as a technique of problem solving by approaching problems indirectly at diverse angles instead of concentrating on one approach at length. Let’s take an example:

If two men could dig a five feet hole in two hours, what depth ten men can dig in two hours?

Although the mathematical answer appears to be 25 feet deep, Lateral thinking raises various other ideas such as;

• A deeper hole may take more effort as it becomes difficult to lift soil from the hole.
• A higher depth may need other equipments such as ladder to get in and come out of the hole.
• When the hole is deep, chances of collapse increases. It may not be possible for people to dig so deep without special instruments.
• Beyond a limit it may hit the water table. And so on…

This creative method is also known as Six Thinking Hats. Thus Six Hats is a process of Lateral Thinking used to think on the issue from different angles. Edward de Bono proposes to use six thinking hats for switching on and off the six thinking modes:

• White hat: facts
• Red hat: emotions
• Black hat: negative judgment
• Yellow hat: positive speculation
• Green hat: creativity
• Blue hat: control of thinking

NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a Creativity technique. According to this technique, the team members are asked to feel about certain things and asked to explain about what they saw, heard, felt etc. During this period of experimentation, the person overcomes his own psychological inertia and increases his skill of creativity and innovation.

NLP can also be used for creative problem solving. For example, one NLP technique called "anchoring" uses language and sensory imagery to lead product development team members into a time when they were wonderfully creative and innovative. NLP is based on pshychology whereas TRIZ is based on Logic.

Balanced scorecard is a new management concept which helps managers at all levels to monitor results in their own areas. It was developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in 90's.

The balanced scorecard suggests that we view the organisation from 4 perpectives.

1. learning and growth perspective
2. the business process perpective
3. the customer perspective
4. the financial perspective

The four perspectives of the Scorecard provide a balance between short term and long-term objectives, between desired outcomes and drivers for those outcomes and between objective and subjective performance measures. The balanced scorecard is based on the existing management ideas like Total Quality Management (TQM) and measurement based management and feedback.

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a framework that describes the key elements of an effective software process, Business Process Management (BPM) and Quality Improvement. CMM is developed by Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Its a community-developed guide for evolving towards a culture of engineering excellence, model for organizational improvement.

CMM defines 5 maturity levels, viz, Initial level, Repeatable, Defined, Managed and Optimised. Each level is characterised by certain levels. At the optimising level, the entire organisation is focused on continuous process improvement. The quantitative feedback from previous projects is used to improve the project management.

CMM is a common-sense application of software or business process management and quality improvement concepts to software development and maintenance. The underlying structure for reliable and consistent software process assessments and software capability evaluations.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was developed in Japan by Shigeru Mizuno and Yoji Akao, first implemented in Mitsubishi in 1972, later adopted in US in 1983. QFD focuses on customer requirements. While most other quality systems emphacise on defect prevention (or zero defect) QFD argues that a product may not sell even if it is free from defects. As per QFD, defect prevention is not enough to ensure the quality of a product, rather it's the customers' need and satisfaction which gives the ultimate certificate of quality.

QFD does not focus on minimising negative qualities, rather focuses on the improving positive qualities that add values. It collects customer requiremetns, translate them into technical requirements, prioritize them and incorporate those features to bring competitive advantage. Conventional design process converts technical capabilities to customer needs, QFD goes reverse and finds technical solution to customer needs.

QFD uses a matrix called "House of Quality". The House of Quality is the most recognised QFD technique. It is made up of six major components which are implemented in the course of a QFD Project.

Anticipatory Failure Determination (AFD)is A method for analyzing, predicting and eliminating failures in systems, products, and processes. The key objective of AFD is to predict the failures in the system in advance and prevent it before it actually takes place.

Taguchi methods is a set of practices for improving quality of any product or process developed by Dr. Taguchi Genichi. Taguchi Method focuses on improving quality while reducing costs. It is based on quality loss function and other Quantitative methods.

Taguchi aims at "Robust design". Taguchi method finds the appropriate parameters to minimise all forms of waste and cost. Taguchi's methodology determines the design specifications for a product to be insensitive to uncontrolled influences.

"Design for Manufacturability" and "Design for Assembly" identify and prioritize features of design to make manufacturing easier, cheaper and faster. Some organisations also use "Design for Serviceability" for easier, faster and better serviceability.

Theory of constraints is used by manufacturing organisations to identify production bottlenecks. TOC tools are used to identify the problems, remove the bottlenecks and improve the manufacturing process.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers' needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. There are many technological components to CRM, but thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake. The more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together lots of pieces of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends.

CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers. the objectives of CRM are- customer satisfaction, maximum features and minimum expenditure etc.

Directed Evolution™ (DE) is A method for developing a comprehensive set of scenarios describing future generations of a system. DE is based on an extensive set of patterns that reveal the evolutionary tendencies of technological systems.

Business Process Management (BPM) is the practice of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of any organization by automating the organization's business processes. BPM is also known as Business Process Reengineering (BPR).

According to BPM, the business processes must closely fit to the business model and easily adaptable to the new conditions and requirements of the business. In order to use BPM effectively, organizations must stop focusing exclusively on data management and data analysis. They should adopt a process-oriented approach that makes no distinction between work done by a human and a computer.

The idea of BPM is to bring processes, people and information together. BPM aims at real-time integration of the processes of a company with those of its suppliers, business partners, and customers. BPM involves looking at automation horizontally instead of vertically. Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) is used for measurement the impact of BPM.

Project Management is a set of methods used for Managing a software project or any other project. A project is defined as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service." A project is consider temporary since once the projects objectives are met, the project team will break-up and go onto other projects. The goal of a project is to create something new, or unique.

The objective of project management to identify and eliminate the ambiguities that causes failure of projects, scope creep, missed deadlines, run-away costs, under/over utilization of resources, and others. A systematic Project Management might need project management tools like Microsoft Project.

Value Engineering (VE) has been used for over 50 years as a formalized tool to achieve cost effectiveness for products and projects. Value Engineering involves team building, team's collective knowledge and imagination.

Heuristic is a method of creativity and invention. The word comes from the Greek word "eureka", which means "I find". George Polya, a mathematician, popularized Heuristic in his book "How to Solve It".

According to the method, if you are having difficulty understanding a problem, try drawing a picture. If you don't find a solution, try assuming that you have a solution and find what you can derive from that ("working backward"). If the problem is abstract, try examining a concrete example. If the a specific problem appears complex, try solving a more general problem first.

Brainstorming is an important tool in the process of Creative Problem Solving. It offers powerful possibilities for the generation of ideas and options that lead to creative solutions for problems and challenges. It is a lively technique that helps a group generate as many ideas as possible in a short time period. If you invite people with different perspectives to brainstorm together, you are more likely to see innovative ideas generated by the group.

Brainstorming is generally used in a group and not to an individual. The objective is to work as a group and so reduce the dominance of any individual openion. It can help you to identify problems, define what problem to work on, analyze causes, select alternative solutions, evaluate resistence to solutions etc.

Mind mapping is a creativity technique to arrange ideas and their interconnections through graphic images. A mind map has a centra point, which can be an image, or a word, which represents the subject of the map. All the important themes of the subject are brached out from the central image.

Mind Mapping uses both sides of the brain. The left brain is used for logical thinking and right brain for creating mind maps. Mind map is a powerful tool for creative problem solving. They are successfully used for planning, organising ideas, note taking, creative thinking and problem solving.