Last week as I left a loyal customer’s Patent & IP Development workshop I was followed to the snowy car park by their engineering director – who wanted to tell me how excited and pleased he was with the results. “Oxford TRIZ exceeded my already high expectations and as a team we now know how to move forward”. This was a cheering start to 2026 and in contrast to everything in the news.
I am sure that those of us who have the good fortune to know and use TRIZ feel they can make a difference in 2026. Working with our customers it is enormously satisfying to help their teams become happier and more productive. The powerful
but simple TRIZ tools enables extension and protection of IP. Teams appreciate
how Oxford TRIZ logic guides them to solve their toughest problems, and helps
turn research into profitable reality.
As individuals, with our TRIZ enhanced Human Intelligence we can create and recognise all good solutions and map the real routes to the best future. I hope I am not delusional but I think that TRIZ people also have the brain power to spot and reject fake news, expose AI hallucinations and be simply effective in the midst of this bewildering confusing new world order which challenges us all.
My brilliant colleagues who ran last week’s workshop pointed out that in over 28 years we have never failed to help our customers resolve ‘impossible’ challenges. This keeps my optimism alive in 2026, which began so sadly for me with the news that the TRIZ Community lost one of its great champions and pioneers when Ellen Domb died in a scuba diving accident in Florida. Ellen echoed the brilliance and generosity of Altshuller by sharing freely all her work. Ellen toiled to get all important TRIZ works translated into clear English, and developed useable teaching materials suitable for what Trump recently called the Western Alliance. Her materials worked for the USA and Europe and she helped spread the use of TRIZ everywhere.
