TRIZ for the Real World

The 90th anniversary issue of Forbes magazine (May 7, 2007 cover date) is a treasure trove of informal research on patterns of evolution. There are 28 essays on the subject of networking by such luminaries as Robert Metcalfe (inventor of Ethernet) and Fredrick Smith (inventor of FedEx) with discussion of what they did, why they did it, and how results were both expected and unexpected. TRIZ folks will see the patterns of evolution played out very explicitly, and might see some hints of new patterns, too. www.forbes.com has some of it, but you might need the paper version to get the full impact. (Which is an interesting commentary on the business model of magazines, or just my "old style" reading habits--can't use the computer in the bathtub or on the treadmill at the gym.)

Comments and discussions are welcome here, of course, or full articles for the TRIZ Journal.